The Motivation of Love

“The love of Christ constraineth us.” —2 Corinthians 5:14

A “calling” is a very strong motivator.  A “call” is to get you where you are at to where God wants you to be.  However, in seeking to fulfill God’s call, we often fail because it is not made effectual by love.  I’ve often fallen short because in my efforts to satisfy my “call” to minister, I was more concerned about “the call” than I was about the people I ministered to.  I was not motivated by “the love of Christ.”  My calling was my motivation.  I’ve come to realize I had it backwards. The love of Christ should be the motivation to fulfill what God called me to do.  The call is secondary to the love of Christ.

Charity, which is simply “love in action,” should drive our service for the Lord. If I could preach with the eloquence of the greatest orators who ever lived… If I had the understanding of the greatest theologians in church history… If I had faith to do miraculous things… If I was the most generous person in the world, but I didn’t do these things with charity, “it profiteth me nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

What motivates you? Is it your calling? Is it the task God has given you to fulfill for Him?  May we say with Paul, “The love of Christ constraineth us.”  All else is secondary.  For faith to be effectual, it must operate in the realm of love—“Faith which worketh BY LOVE” (Gal. 5:6). “Speaking the truth IN LOVE” (Eph. 5:15). Love must drive everything we do, otherwise it is nothing.