Motives

Your motive is why you do something. Jack and Jill are both going to get water, but they can be doing it for different reasons. Maybe Jill’s motive is to help her mother. Maybe Jack’s motive is to bother Jill. Which motive is the right one? Yes, Jill has a good reason to get the water, but Jack doesn’t.

In the story, did Daniel have a good motive? Here are some motives he could have had for working: 1) he had nothing else to do, or 2) he wanted his family to think he was a good worker so he could get something, or 3) someone told him to do it, and he had to obey, or 4) he loved his family and wanted to help them. What was Daniel’s reason for working so hard? If Daniel had asked Jesus to help him, what motive would he have had then?

God’s motives, or reasons for doing things, are always right. He wants the best for us, but He won’t make us do what is right. He tells us to choose between the good and the bad. We can obey the Bible and do what is right because our parents tell us to, but Jesus wants us to obey Him because we love Him. Love is always a good motive. True love doesn’t make us think only of what we want, but what will make others happy. True love is not afraid, because it knows that Jesus is always near. True love is the motive Jesus had when He came to the earth and died for us.

If Dad says for you to come, you can come because he might punish you if you don’t. That’s one motive—because you are afraid. Another motive might be a selfish one, “I wonder if Dad has something I want?” Or you could come because you love Jesus and want to do what is right. Why do you do things? It is easy to do things with the wrong reasons, and like Daniel, to only think of ourselves. When Jesus changes our hearts, it is much easier to have the right motive of love.