What motivates you? Nothing? That’s not true. Everyone is motivated by something. It’s interesting that most people are not motivated by what you think would motivate them.

I have been around musicians all my life. In my younger years I played rock ‘n roll with the best of them. For a while I was a studio musician. One thing I have discovered is that musicians who work for a living are usually not motivated by money. I’ve met some highly intelligent men who could make a fortune in the business world, but they gave it all up to play their guitar for little or nothing.

Likewise, I have been around salesmen who get more excited about making the sale than the money that will pay the bills. I’ve seen good people stay with a job that paid less because they love the working conditions. Strange as it may seem, most people do not stay at their place of employment because of the money, but because of their heart.

What motivates you in life to do what you do? Motivation in itself is an interesting concept. If you are motivated by what is good, your life will be good. If you are motivated by evil, then your life will be destroyed. We must have the correct motivation in all that we do.

It is difficult and almost impossible to determine someone else’s motivation for what they do. Two people in the same situation doing the same thing the same way can be motivated by two completely different objectives.

One man can work long hours and rarely take a day off in order to support his family, to pay the bills, and to supply his family with good things because he loves them.

Another man working in the same environment can work long hours and rarely take a day off. However, his motivation may be to stay away from his family because he does not want to go home. To someone working with these two men, they would see that both men are hard workers but not see the motivation behind their hard work.

The point I am getting at is this. You may be working hard in the ministry. You may be pressing in and trying to accomplish much, but you must be doing this because of the call of God on your life and because He has told you that "ministry" is what you are supposed to do.

As Christians we must understand that God has a plan tailored specifically for each one of us. The key is to listen to Him and to do what He tells us to do and to not do what He tells us not to do. Our motivation must be obedience to what He has told us. We cannot seek accomplishments to be seen by men or to exalt ourselves. We must have the right motivation and that motivation must be obedience to His personal command to us.