Motives

Our motives are the foundation for everything we do. Just like the foundation of our house, we need to pay careful attention to the whys behind our actions. Our whys dictate where we work, serve, live, and travel. They also affect relationships, friends, coworkers, and enemies. Our whys dictate how we navigate our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual selves too. If our why is off, then nothing we do from that position will be right.

Day 4, Motives Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 (ESV) No one could tell me anything. I was eighteen and had the world in front of me. I rolled down the windows of my Geo Metro, cranked up Lenny Kravitz, and screamed the lyrics, “I want to get away, I want to fly away.” I couldn’t wait to finish my two years of community college and get out of the suffocating, small-minded, town of Madison. It’s funny looking back. Pride has a

We see two different kinds of people in this story. One is greedy and selfish while the other is penny pinching but easily swayed. Money can be a good thing or it can destroy people. Are you a wise manager of your funds or are you reckless like Blake? Do you live within your means or do you ride the high horse too often?

Day 2, Motives Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV) I grew up in a traditional Southern Baptist church, and my parents were heavily involved in many roles. We attended every time the doors were open: Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. We sang in the choir, played in the orchestra, did all the events. There was no excuse for missing unless we were really

People pleasing is a dangerous trap that kept me in bondage to other people; and those people never knew how much control they had over me. My internal need for their approval drove so much of what I did for way too many years. Learning to check my motivation for doing things has been a game changer. I am me, take it or leave it.

  When our foundation is anything other than Jesus, we become selfishly motivated and “attaboy” driven. My actions can be exactly the same as the next person, but if I’m doing it from the wrong heart, what is produced in my life and heart won’t be Holy Spirit fruit. Motives matter. Our foundation matters. Just like the houses at the coast that were swept away by the hurricanes, so will we be swept away if we continue going through the motions of life without examining our hea