Motivation

I apologize to anyone who was wanting more content here recently, Ive been busy with school, personal finances, family stuff, and more personal things.

But a midst all this, for school I made a Bible study that happened to be completely wrong so I redid it. But this was the original one, its very simple, I am bad at following the teachers structure but I hope it makes sense. Lets begin.

What is love?

(John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(Galatians 2:20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

(Ephesians 5:25) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it

Love is a motivating principle revolved around giving. God gives his perfect example of love by giving the most he can in a selfless way.

Its about Sacrifice, or what is given.

What is Lust?

(I John 2:16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

(James 1:15) Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Lust, a desire for something to find pleasure in the flesh, eyes or life. It, when conceived, is sin.

What is Sin?

(I John 3:4) Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

(Deuteronomy 6:1) Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

(Exodus 20:6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

(Luke 10:27-28) And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Since Love is integrated with obedience to the commandments, and the commandments are all selfless sacrifices of something we would rather do, that it would be self-serving to oppose.

Thus sin is transgression of the law is selfishness, since you are going against or rebelling against selfless requirements.

What is lust and love more practically then?

Love is the desire to give unselfishly for no rewards, even to the detriment of ones self.

Lust is the desire to take selfishly to gain, even to the harm or death of others.

What is Salvation?

(Titus 2:11-12) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

(John 1:29) The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

A bi-product of salvation is eternal life, eternal life is not salvation itself.

People want to be saved from death without being saved from sin.

Ultimately we can desire salvation in a sinful way.

We can try overcoming sin, in a way that is sinful. Desiring or coveting heaven, the rewards of salvation.

Can we pursue righteousness in an unrighteous way?

The answer is yes. We can covet and lust after the perks of a relationship with Christ.

So the question we ask ourselves now is, do we follow Christ because of what we want? Or do we follow Christ because of what he wants?

What does Christ want?

(Hebrews 2:17) Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people

Christ says he wants to get closer to us or "reconsile, thus he makes all effort to remove sin from separating us.

So do we want to be closer to be closer to Christ or closer to the perks of Christ's gifts?

------This is where my assignment ended, but I had another thought that I put down separately on my phone.

I was thinking about love at first sight... It's such a common term people use, but just as brought out earlier in this post I think it, being a worldly popular term has something to teach us about the Devil's counterfeit Love.

Is Love at first sight fake? a ploy? Can it be related to our experience with Jesus?

Is it a deception? I believe so, and I hope you will see my line of thought here clearly.

This deception leads people to assume they are "in love" with Jesus but usually there are certain impure motives for this attraction. They want what Jesus has not who Jesus is, the  "love" the stuff that comes with the relationship, not the relationship itself.

Just like Lucifer's accusation against Job, "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land." Job 1:10, we all are "accused" of loving the blessing rather than the Blesser.

So how do we react when God lets Satan take blessing from us, lose of money, health, or otherwise. 

In our words, actions, or heart so we stay loving God? Its your reaction in those moments that reveals to the universe who we really love.

If eternal life, heaven, and earthly blessings were never mentioned as rewards, would we still pursue being Christlike, if the reward is why we are in it, we aren't actually in it.

If I lust after the gifts that accompany salvation instead of loving the one who saves, I will retain earthly things and losee eternally. 

But motivation sourced from divinly given love will spur me to forsake the temporal, worldy things, and gain whatever it is God's will to bestow.

------ None of us are worthy, lets not pretend, lets use our time not for ourselves, but for what God wants.

May his will be done in on earth as it is in heaven, Amen.