Friday, January 13, 2012

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Motive

Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.

This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)

Just a word and a phrase, a sentence or a question...just a little something to "fan the flame" of your creativity!

Today's word: motive


What does the word motive mean?

How do you think a person's motives affect their behavior?

Can a person do a bad thing with good motives? Can a they do a good thing with bad motives?

What sorts of motives should a follower of Jesus have?


Let me know what you think!!


"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)


BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

10 comments:

  1. I guess I'm first.

    And I guess a motive is just what it says, the motivation behind what you do. I think it's more than a reason, though. To me, it carries the idea of intended outcome too. In short, why am I doing what I'm doing, and what do I expect or hope the outcome to be?

    If I am a follower of Christ, I am called to surrender my motives to His. His motives were pretty simply stated, too: To do the will of the Father.

    Because Satan is so crafty, I think one of the most critical things we should do as Christians is to do a regular motivation check. It's just too easy to be motivated by self-interest. At least it is to this human.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Motives are of the utmost importance. As the Bible says "Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

    I know I will make mistakes but I hope, by God's grace, that my motives will always be pure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmmmmmmmmmmm Blessings Sharon...

    Ya' got me on this one like many others... it's those additional questions that stump me and cause me to ponder the definition of "motive"... having been a highly motivated person and dropping that down quite a bit to almost nonexistence hmmmmmmmmm
    are these two words related? I'm sure they are... root and all. Should I peek at the others?
    Naw..... only 2... but they're probably smarter than I and motivated to respond... ohhh, naw...

    1.What does the word motive mean?
    2.How do you think a person's motives affect their behavior?
    3.Can a person do a bad thing with good motives? 4.Can they do a good thing with bad motives?
    5.What sorts of motives should a follower of Jesus have?


    1 (&2?)Motive=need or desire that causes me to act
    Now my worst classes in college besides English "C"
    was in psychology... which this definitely is connected to and I always do poorly in this. Needed this in my personal life and in teaching but not too smart about using it... over my head, I think
    (that makes it spiritual...lol)
    Our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives. I guess the ones I question are those "ulterior motives".

    Anyways...I find myself highly unqualified to answer these questions or give any valid opinion.(and yet I still ramble on)

    I had two adopted children (now adults) both from the same biological parents and bad environment...
    neglected... one who was motivated and the other not at all... the later had not a very good sense of conscience (understanding right from wrong) and did not care, plus was very difficult to motivate.
    Maybe these aren't at all related.
    3-5
    So yes, yes, and heaven help us. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I should give up my own agenda, surrender mine for His... flesh for spiritual...
    lay down my carnal motives and seek Christ centered ones, obedience instead of doing as I please. I will make a series of wrong choices but if I align myself with His Word and His Will following His Truth, I will begin to weed out improper motives and choices and thoughts and actions/behaviors for ones that truly reflect His image. I'm not too sure we do what we do with pure motives... even "church stuff"... however Jesus asks us to abide in Him, and when I do, I will bear more fruit... when I don't... it's just like my tree out front with an infestation of little white flies (plague)... I must cut off the branches(motives) not bringing life... some just naturally are following off, I shake the tree, to rid the dead leaves... I spray and momentarily the little pests fly off... but quickly return... another one attaches itself to the leaves and they double over, and close around it... then the leaf shrivels and dies... pesky little plague... but what we need is to cut off the
    ends and be grafted... into Jesus and allow His Holy Spirit to sprinkle us with whatever it takes to shake off the bad and allow the good to grow and show fruit. Gotta constantly check our motives in what we do daily and especially in ministry! Our personal lives and motives must be in sync with God's...and when it isn't, time to be dipped, grafted, shaken... or sprayed with some Holy, anointed power! (wanna do a blog on my plague? I'll send you photos from healthy to unhealthy progress)
    Kidding...

    Love ya'... sending prayers and hugs,
    Peggy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes I do think a person can do bad with good motives - I know I have done it myself. I thought they were good motives at the time, but come to find they were wrong. sandie

    ReplyDelete
  5. G'Day Sharon :) I've have been thinking this one over since you posted it... even in my sleep last night.

    The truth is the only words that kept coming to my mind {and still are} to describe "motive" is "self gain".

    Still fanning the flame on this one... if Christ is in us, and we in Him, then "self gain" is not an option.

    Okay, so that's my thoughts for now. I do love this Friday feature!

    By the way, Sharon, I really miss your prayer that was at the top of the page, near the title. Any chance you can put it back there or in the side bar?

    Love to you! Wishing you a happy weekend. Love, Kerrie

    ReplyDelete
  6. What does the word motive mean? A need that causes me to act. How do you think a persons motives affect their behaviour? If you feel like the world is constantly giving you lemons, and you choose to open up a neighborhood lemonade stand, and sell lemonade, then your motives have affected your behaviour, in a good way. But, if you start throwing the lemons at your neighbors, your motives are affecting your behavior, in a bad way. Can a person do a bad thing with good motives? Yes, I think you can do a bad thing with good motives. What you may think is totally right, someone else may feel is totally wrong. Can they do a good thing with bad motives? Yes, they can do a good thing with bad motives. Some people only do good things, to get the attention of other people, that is wrong. What sorts of motives should a follower of Jesus have? Followers of Jesus, should be motivated by the actions and words of Jesus. We should always strive to follow in His footsteps.

    ReplyDelete
  7. motive...anything that gets you stirred up.....makes you want to do something or other. And I think bad things can be happen even with good motives. People react different...think and see things differently....Have a great weekend Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  8. Maybe the best way to monitor our motives is to ask ourselves when we lay head to pillow at night, "would my motives today make God smile?" If the answer is a YES, then we should pray for another day tomorrow to get it even better!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, I think we can do bad things with good motives, and good things with bad motives. We need to be sure what we do is good and that our motives are also good. Thank you for this gentle reminder.
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes... d: all of the above. Motives affect our behavior, good with wrong, wrong with good. It's something we -- me-- need to guard against. Even in sheltering I need to be careful to have the right motive. That's why some of my sheltering never gets on the blog. I don't want to shelter just for something to blog about. It's a prayer I pray often -- may the gifting be from pure motives, out of a love for You, and a desire to do Your will.

    ReplyDelete

"So [I] have been greatly encouraged in the midst of [my] troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives [me] new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How [I] thank God for you!" (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Thanks for your comments - it is such a joy to be sharing my journey with friends like YOU!

(NOTE: Anonymous comments will be removed. Thank you for understanding.)