Saturday, January 12, 2019

The Motivation That Never Stops

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

Philippians 2:1–4

God greatly blessed the work of Missionary Hudson Taylor in China. As hundreds accepted Christ as Saviour, the need for more workers became pressing. Taylor made it a habit as much as possible to interview all the candidates who were interested in joining the China Inland Mission. The story goes that he would ask, “Why do you want to go as a foreign missionary?” Various answers were common, especially things like, “Because Christ has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel,” or “Because millions are perishing without Christ.” Taylor would say, “All of these motives, however good, will fail you in times of testings, trials, tribulations, and possible death. There is but one motive that will sustain you in trial and testing—namely, the love of Christ.”

Only love will keep us going when things go wrong, when others turn against us, when opposition increases, or when disaster strikes. Some people serve for a time and then stop, and that is normally because they had an insufficient source of motivation. Often we are on guard against wrong motives like pride, but forget that even good motives that are not the right motive are insufficient. If our work is driven by the fact that Jesus loves us and we love Him, there is no sacrifice that is too great to make for Him. He deserves the very best that we can offer, and love compels us to give it to Him.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Love for Christ will keep us going when other motives would fail us.