Category: Motivation (Page 2 of 3)

About a Minute

July 19, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

A famous guest at a banquet was asked at the last moment to give an impromptu speech for the occasion. As he rose to speak, he asked how much time he had. Someone from the audience yelled “About a minute!”

The speaker asked, “Only a minute?”

He then said, “We normally think of a minute as a short amount of time. Not as short as a second, but still short. In fact, most of us rarely think about what we can do in one minute’s time. In reality, you can do a lot more than you think. It only takes a minute…

“To offer a prayer of thanks to God.
“To offer a prayer of intercession for someone who’s hurting or struggling.
“To send a text message to someone you missed seeing at church.
“To email someone you’ve been thinking about.
“To write a card to someone who’s sick or grieving.
“To say ‘Thank You’ to someone who blessed you in an unexpected way.
“To say ‘Well Done’ to an employee or student or child.
“To say ‘I appreciate your work’ to a boss or teacher or pastor or minister.
“To pick up and put up something that’s been laying there for a week.
“To wipe a spot in the kitchen or bathroom.
“To read a short passage of Scripture and give yourself a boost.
“To call a friend or church member you haven’t seen in a while.
“To make a ‘To Do’ list for tomorrow.
“To hug someone who needs a hug.”

And you thought a minute wasn’t much time!

As the apostle Paul said, “Make the most of your time” (Ephesians 5.16). May God help make the most of our minutes!

Elimination or Adaptation?

June 14, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.
Lou Holtz

That’s one possible solution. The coach may bench an unmotivated player or cut him from the team. The boss in the workplace may be able to fire an unproductive worker.

But not always.

There are three reasons for this. First, you can’t always get rid of problematic people. The lazy athlete may be more popular than the coach. The athlete may be protected by a stubborn administrator or irate parents or an ironclad contract. Or maybe nobody better is available.

Second, there may be better ways of motivating others: Being patient with them; showing them a better way; offering further training or opportunities; making the workplace more internally competitive. All these tactics might be better motivators than the threat of punishment.

Third, this approach overlooks the fact that success sometimes emerges from situations we can’t change. We may not be able to control our coworkers’ attitudes, but we can change ours. We may not be able to change the work others do, but we can improve ours. And, when all else fails, we could learn to be content with the situation. Yikes!

When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Philippi, he was in jail at the time. Some of his fellow preachers took advantage of his imprisonment. They thought that since he was in jail, they could gain a competitive advantage over Paul. With him out of the way, they could advance their own ministries.

Paul’s response? “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice” (Philippians 1.15-18).

Paul couldn’t control his circumstances or theirs. He couldn’t change their motives or actions. So, he found the good in what they did, even if their motives were corrupt.

For us, maybe we can’t change someone else’s motivation, but we can change our own. Maybe we can’t change our circumstances, but we can certainly change our attitudes. Maybe we can’t get rid of our problems, but we can choose to thrive and grow anyway.

It’s about doing whatever we can do, regardless of what others may or may not do.

Motivation & Honesty

May 3, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

As a preacher, I frequently deal in the currency of motivation. Part of what I do is attempt to keep fellow Christians and church members motivated to do the work of the kingdom.

Some Christians are highly motivated and rarely need help from me. Others are motivated only to the extent that there’s something in it for them, some tangible reward, usually in the form of trumpet-blowing. Some seem to struggle with motivation at the most basic level. They seem unable or unwilling to do the most basic forms of service. I may push, pull, beg, pressure, and howl, but nothing happens.

Regarding motivation, Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Our Lord never pleaded, He never cajoled, He never entrapped; He simply spoke the sternest words mortal ears ever listened to, and then left it alone.”

Chambers’ comments raise an interesting question: How motivated am I to do what’s right? What really moves me to serve Jesus? Do I really care? I should be careful how I answer. Because, if I must constantly be goaded, pressed, embarrassed, pushed, or shoved before I’m willing to act, it would seem that doing right isn’t my highest priority.

Too many Christians fall into this category. We say we’re followers of Jesus, but we seem awfully casual about the whole thing. We say we want to do right, that we want to serve, but we act only when we’re pushed to the limit.

This may provide some insight into Jesus’ Parable of the Sower (Luke 8.4-8). In the parable, a farmer sows seed on different kinds of soil and, consequently, gets different yields from each soil. Some of the soil is packed down and won’t grow anything. Some of it is shallow, with a layer of rock underneath. Some of it full of thorns. Some of it is good, clean soil.

When Jesus explained the parable, he said that “the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance” (Luke 8.15). The honest heart is the one who takes the Word of God and simply obeys it. There’s no resistance, no argument, and no excuse.

In other words, honesty is the linchpin of the machinery of spiritual motivation. A dishonest person will never have sufficient motivation to act upon the commands of God.

If you’re struggling with your motivation to serve God, the first thing to look at is your heart. Are you motivated for the right reasons? Bottom line: Are you honest?

The End of Gratitude

March 15, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

No, I’m not talking about the cessation of gratitude. I’m talking about the result or outcome of being grateful.

What got me thinking about this was a quotation from motivational speaker and author Brian Tracy. He said, “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”

Hermit that I am, I’d never heard of Brian Tracy before running across this quotation. Somewhere on Tracy’s website he’s described as a “Best Selling Author and Professional Speaker” — the words were capitalized, so apparently, he views this a title, or perhaps he’s German. His website is all about business success.

In an article about the “Principles of Self-Management” he says, “Everything you are or ever will be is entirely up to you.”

Now I agree that all of us need to be accountable for our decisions, actions, and lives. However, I’ve learned that many things in life are entirely beyond my control. I can’t control some aspects of my health. I can’t control some aspects of my relationships. I can’t control how other treat me. In fact, I’ve often been helped simply by the good graces of others. Obviously, Tracy is the classic “self-made man” and encourages others to take the same approach.

I see his quotation on gratitude in much the same way. He views gratitude as a tool for reaching his goals and achieving success. The idea that gratitude is all about “bigger and better” is a worldly view, not a Biblical view. Solomon said, “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and turmoil with it” (Proverbs 15.16). The apostle Paul said, “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6.8). Gratitude says that I’m happy AND I don’t need more! The Lord may see fit to bless me with more, but if he doesn’t, that won’t change my level of happiness and gratitude.

In other words, the end of gratitude is not having more, doing more, being more. The end of gratitude is contentment.

Can you be happy right where you are?

The Silence of Sibelius

February 1, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was arguably Finland’s greatest composer. Perhaps his most famous work was the patriotic symphonic poem “Finlandia”, which is one of Finland’s most important national tunes. If you’re familiar with the hymn, “Be Still My Soul,” its melody is based upon choral melody of “Finlandia.”

Sibelius was a prodigious composer, producing seven symphonies and numerous other orchestral works from the 1890s through 1926. His last known piece was “Tapiola”, written in 1926. For the remaining thirty years of his life (1926-1957), he apparently wrote or finished nothing. During this same period, he said virtually nothing about his music. Sibelius went silent.

One possible explanation is that he lost his intrinsic motivation. In 1897 he was awarded a government pension which, in theory, allowed him to work on his compositions without having to worry about his finances. He bought land in the country and with his wife Aino built a house where they lived out the remainder of their lives. The theory is that over time since he had all his extrinsic needs met, he gradually lost his inner motivation. Dangling a large carrot (in this case, a lifelong pension) in front of him eventually stunted his motivation to challenge himself.

Whether this is true or not is debatable. Sibelius lived large, frequently running up debt. He loved drinking, smoking, and partying. His tendency toward alcoholism was well known. Many believe that these were factors in his sudden silence.

Sibelius was also a perfectionist who was notoriously self-critical of his work. He often would rewrite and tweak portions of earlier works and was rarely completely satisfied with his music.

I suspect that the silence of Sibelius involved many factors. However, the notion of intrinsic motivation is important. The highest form of motivation for mature, responsible, productive people comes from within.

What does this have to do with being a Christian? Jesus said that the greatest command for God’s people is to “love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might” (Deuteronomy 6.5). This kind of commitment comes from within – from the heart, from the soul. In a culture like ours, which so strongly emphasizes external rewards, we forget that the most important things don’t have price tags attached.

What is it that really moves you? What gets you going and keeps you going? If the answer doesn’t come from your heart’s commitment to God, you’re looking in the wrong places at the wrong things.

God deserves better, and so do you.

In the Moment

January 19, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“The thing is to rely on God. The time will come when you will regard all this misery as a small price to pay for having been brought to that dependence. Meanwhile, the trouble is that relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing has yet been done.”
C. S. Lewis

Lewis was warning against the tendency to rely on God only when we’re in trouble, only when some urgent need arises. As he noted, relying on God is a daily discipline that we exercise moment-by-moment.

I don’t know about anybody else, but it’s hard for me to live in the moment. Some days I spend too much time looking backward with regret at something I wish I’d done better. Other days I spend too much time looking forward with anxiety about what needs to be done this week or next. The reality is that all I have is today, this very moment. I need to learn the art of living in the moment.

What should help me in this daily reliance upon God is to remember his daily provisions. Jeremiah said,

The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3.23-24

Jeremiah wrote these words while surveying the ruins of Jerusalem after King Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the city. Looking backward only served to remind him of the nation’s past failures. Looking forward only frustrated him because there were no resources with which to rebuild. Jeremiah could only look at each day as gift from God, a reminder that God hadn’t abandoned his people.

The challenge for us is to see each day’s situation as a gift from God. In each day do we see God’s provisions? Do we see God’s help in temptation? Do we see God’s forgiveness? Do we see his mercy and grace? Do we see his comfort and hope? We see them only to the extent that we look for them. THAT is how we learn to rely upon God.

It would be too much to say that we should never look backward, because we should always be ready to learn from past mistakes. It would be equally foolish to say that we should never look forward, because we should always be aware of where our past and present decisions point us. However, properly evaluating the past and the future depend upon how we look at God in the present, in the moment.

Motivation for the Weary

December 7, 2022 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“There is a great deal of difference between the eager man who wants to read a book, and the tired man who wants a book to read.”

(G. K. Chesterton; English writer, Christian apologist; d. 1936)

If I’m reading Chesterton correctly, he was distinguishing two types of motivation. One form of motivation comes when we’re energetic, when we have a clear schedule, and when we find something interesting. Doing what we want to do when conditions are ideal is easy.

The other form of motivation comes when we’re tired, when we don’t have a lot of time, and when we’re sorely lacking in enthusiasm. Doing what needs to be done, even if we’re not feeling it, is hard. But this is probably the highest form of motivation. We’re motivated not by external factors, but by internal forces. We’re motivated by the demands and concerns of character. We do something because it’s right, not because it’s easy.

A great illustration of this comes in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus is traveling with his apostles near a Samaritan village. He stops at Jacob’s well for a rest while the apostles go into town to buy food (v. 27, 31-33). While he’s resting, a Samaritan woman approaches the well to fill her waterpot for the day (v. 7). Jesus initiates a conversation with her by asking her for a drink (v. 7), then he steers the conversation toward the subject of living water (v. 10-14). By the end of the conversation, she leaves her waterpot behind, goes into town, and tells all her friends about Jesus (v. 28-30).

At the beginning of the story, John tells us that Jesus “wearied” from his travels (v. 6). The verb means to be spent from arduous labor. The form of the verb suggests that he had already grown weary and continued to be weary. He was exhausted.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m tired, I don’t want to socialize. The last thing I want to do is strike up a conversation with random strangers in public places. I don’t want to think lofty, theological thoughts. I want to sit in a quiet spot and be left alone. I want to be a lump.

Jesus’ example reminds me that to love my neighbor as myself means that if I have a chance to help someone else, I should go for it. If I have an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus, I should seize the moment. In other words, I should be motivated by something other than my feelings and circumstances. I should be motivated by love for God and love for my neighbor.

I’m not saying (and neither did Jesus) that we can never take a vacation or never unplug. That’s not the case at all (see, Matthew 14.22-23; Mark 6.31; Luke 5.16). But it does remind us that when we’re tired and presented with an opportunity to do good, we mustn’t let fatigue make the decision. Whatever we decide, we should do it because it’s the right thing to do.

Pyramids & Success

October 5, 2022 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 1 Comment

One of my favorite motivational posters shows a picture of the Egyptian pyramids. The title of the poster is “Motivation”. The caption reads, “You can do anything you set your mind to when you have vision, determination, and an endless supply of expendable labor.”

The poster is published Despair, Inc., a company that parodies the motivational products you seen at mall kiosks, in offices, and on websites. Their motto is, “Welcome to the cure for hope.”

This poster makes a worthwhile point. Egypt was among the most powerful ancient empires. They had a stable culture, a strong military, along with resources and vision. Like most ancient empires, they also had abundant slave labor. No wonder they could build pyramids.

Pyramids are still being built in the same way. How often do you see ads by a well-known celebrity for fitness, nutrition, or beauty products ? Morning talk shows routinely feature celebrities who lost 50 pounds and tell us that if we’ll do what they did, we’ll get the same results.

What they don’t tell us is that their contracts have incentives for losing weight and keeping in shape. They have personal trainers, dieticians, and chefs. They don’t tell us that companies approach them and offer them money to test their products. They don’t tell us about the nanny who watches their kids while they’re sweating in their Olympic-caliber home gym. They don’t tell us that they only work 4 hours a day.

When I hear celebrities talking about their health and beauty success, I see pyramids. I suspect that their success is less a personal achievement than a corporate endorsement, built upon the backs of others. That approach isn’t helpful to any of us.

I’d rather build small mounds of dirt with my own hands than pyramids on the backs of others. I’d rather know that I did what I could with what I had, even if the results are meager. I don’t say this as an affirmation of stubborn pride. I have no desire to crash and burn while singing, “Let the record show I took the blows and did it my way!”

For Christians, there’s nothing more fundamental than a personal commitment to Jesus of Nazareth. Each of us will be judged by what we did, rather than what we did through corporate sponsors. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that EACH ONE may be recompensed for HIS DEEDS in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5.10).

To be sure, along the way, the Lord gives strength and guidance. I’m not in this alone. But I’m responsible for my own life, and I can’t take credit for what isn’t mine.

For today, take what you have, do what you can do, and trust the Lord for the rest. It is enough.

The Life in Front of You

September 7, 2022 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

The life you live is the life right in front of you.

We often wish that our lives were somehow different. We can’t wait until something different and better comes along. Kids can’t wait until they can ride a bike, or go to school, or play sports. Teenagers can’t wait until they start dating, or start driving, or get a job. Young adults can’t wait to leave home, get to college, or finish college, or get that first full-time job. They can’t wait until they get married, or until they have kids, or until they own a house. Then we can’t wait for our kids grow up and leave. Then we can’t wait until our kids get married, or until we have grandkids, or until retirement.

You get the idea.

I want to be clear, that there’s nothing wrong in looking ahead and planning. But is it possible that in constantly looking forward we miss what’s right in front of us? Do we see each moment of each day as having its own value and significance?

Jeremiah 29 records an exchange between Jeremiah the prophet and some Israelites who were already in exile. At this point the city of Jerusalem was still standing. It had already been attacked twice by the Babylonians but had not yet fallen. A group of exiles from Jerusalem who had already been taken to Babylon sent a letter to the prophet Jeremiah, asking if their exile would really last 70 years as he had prophesied. False prophets in Babylon were saying no.

Most of Jeremiah 29 is his reply to the exiles in the form of a letter. Verses 4-7 say, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’”

God reminded them of three things. First, they were in Babylon in exile because he sent them there, not because of some bizarre political accident. Second, by implication, they would remain there until the 70 years had ended. Third, they had the opportunity for a rich, fulfilling life right where they were – yes, even in Babylon.

The easiest thing to do in life is wish it away. Some people spend every day wanting something better. Instead, may God give us the grace each day to live the life that’s right in front of us.

The $86,400 Gift Card

September 7, 2022 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

Imagine getting a special gift card for Christmas. Before you can use it, you must activate it. After you activate it, you must spend the entire balance in 24 hours. It comes preloaded with $86,400. You can’t combine it with other funds to make a larger purchase. You can’t save any for additional purchases tomorrow because the balance goes to $0.00 after 24 hours. You can’t share your card with anyone else, and others can’t share their cards with you. You may spend your funds in any way you desire.

What would you do with such a gift card? You’d spend it of course! I think most people understand that with gift cards you use it or lose it.

In fact, you DO have something like that. It’s called TIME. Each day has 24 hours, each hour has 60 minutes, and each minute has 60 seconds. That works out to be 86,400 seconds per day. Your daily allotment of time works the same way as your imaginary gift card. You begin each day with the full amount, and at the end of the day, you have nothing leftover. You can’t save any of today’s time to use tomorrow, and you can’t borrow any of tomorrow’s time for today. You can’t give any of your time allotment to other people, and other people can’t give you theirs. You may spend your time in any way your desire.

I’m not sure why it’s the case, but most people I know have a better appreciation for money than they do for time. Perhaps it’s because money is more tangible, or at least the things it will buy are tangible. Time, on the other hand, is more of a concept, and an elusive one at that. Often the things we do with time are intangible, and the benefits are also intangible.

Regardless of the reason, we would all do well to understand that time is one of our most valuable assets. In many ways, it’s the great equalizer. Not everyone has money or prestige or power. Everyone has time. In fact, everyone has the same amount of time available to them: 86,400 seconds per day. That’s true for me, for you, for the CEO, for the President of the United States, for Moses, and for Jesus himself. The difference isn’t the amount of time we each possess, it’s what we do with the time we possess.

Moses said, “For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away” (Psalm 90.9-10). He was saying that life is a struggle.

But his conclusion was more hopeful: “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom” (v. 12).

As we begin this year, may God bless each of us with a full year’s worth of time, and an awareness of the value of time, and most of all the wisdom to use it well.