Something Pastor Roger Thompson said a few weeks ago has stuck with me:
There’s no such thing as an unmotivated action.
One of my favorite TV shows is The Office, and one of the best parts of the show is Jim’s pranks against Dwight. Some of Jim’s best work came when he trained Dwight (without Dwight’s knowledge) to salivate at the sound of a restarting computer. He did this by giving him a mint every time his computer made the sound. Dwight bought into a “why” without even realizing it, and his actions changed.
We all have goals with a "why" behind them.
As we enter a new year, we all have goals. Maybe we want to read a certain number of books. Perhaps we want to improve our work habits. Maybe we want to build a strong habit of spending time with the Lord each day. Whatever our goal, we always have a “why” behind the goal. We want to read all those books so that we can bring knowledge into our everyday lives. We want to improve our work habits so that we can get a big promotion. We want to read the Word every day so that we can grow in our faith.
But how strong is our "why" and where does it lead us?
The problem is that sometimes our “why” isn’t strong enough to achieve the goal. Our “why” can even be something that drives a wedge between us and God. As we set goals for the new year, we want to avoid adding our goal to the massive mound of “things we tried in January but never really got off the ground.” We also want to avoid the wrong kind of success - success that draws our worship away from Christ and toward the achievement of our goals.
Paul gives us the best “why” in Colossians 3:23-24:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
It's important to pause and evaluate our "why."
Sometimes a goal looks daunting, and we end up dropping it because what comes on the other side doesn’t give us enough energy to continue the pursuit. This moment is the perfect time to evaluate our current "why" and shift towards the greater "why" that Paul presents.
The way Paul ends Colossians 3:24 removes all doubt about where Jesus should fit into our goals.
Jesus shouldn't just be a means to our end: He should be the focus of why we pursue our goals! He should be our greater 'why.'
Seeing our goals through this lens helps us to joyfully pursue the goals God places on our hearts and filter out the motives that don’t honor him.
We must focus our pursuit on the greater "why."
In Colossians 3:23, Paul helps us to see how every area of our lives must have Jesus as our motivation. When we set our goals, it’s easy to segment our lives and act as if one part belongs to him while another really doesn’t. Once we see how everything we do serves the Lord who loves us, we’ll see how important it is to bring every part of our lives to him! In Psalm 38:9, David shows us that even the parts of our lives we view as “separate” aren’t hidden from God.
Pause and think about what Dane Ortlund says in his devotional on Psalm 104 from his book In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions through the Psalms:
“Consider your life. Have you compartmentalized the Lord of Heaven? Have you set him off as one part of your life, as you have your finances, work, entertainment, and so on? Return to what you know to be true.”
Every area of our lives, public or private, has a “why.” Our motives fall short every day, but Paul calls us to work heartily, knowing that God works in us.
When our motives align with the greater "why," we can live content.
When we pursue goals with motives that don’t honor Christ, contentment evades us. There’s always one more thing to do or one more area where we aren’t “good enough.”
Here’s the good news: When our motives spring from love for Christ, contentment is the fruit we bear.
Paul’s wise advice to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:6-7 reminds us that even when our goals don’t produce the results we hoped for, living for Christ never falls short. Maybe you have spiritual goals, like building a consistent habit of reading the Word every day. It’s easy to slide into a motive that doesn’t honor Christ because we just want to “check the box.” However, when we view our time with God as an opportunity to grow closer to him, and not as an end, contentment in his love for us drives us to continue our pursuit of him.
So, what's your "why" this new year?
As you enter this new year, don’t let your “why” go unexamined like Dwight. View your “why” through the lens of honoring Jesus and pursue your goals knowing that you serve the Lord Christ in your pursuit!
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