Our Motivation: Love
Godspell, the musical based on the Gospel according to Matthew, captures in music and creative drama the parables and the essential message of this wonderful gospel. Perhaps the most memorable part of this inspirational musical is the theme song, Day by Day, with the chorus “to see Thee more clearly, to love Thee more dearly, to follow Thee more nearly, day by day.” It is ironic that this theme song, which was very perceptively derived from Matthew’s Gospel by the composers, captures as well as any prose the essence of the Christian life. Seeing Christ more clearly will naturally cause one to love Him more dearly, and thus follow Him more nearly, day by day. It is for the lack of this true personal knowledge of God based on both propositional truths from Scripture and intimate personal encounters with God that the Christian life can be superficial and tedious, without direction or motivation. “Christ has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Himself, who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).
As we begin our investigation of what it means to be a Christian professor (as distinguished from a professor who also happens to be a Christian), we need to be very clear about the motivation and ultimate direction (or goal) which God has in mind for us. Otherwise, it is easy to confuse means with ends and find ourselves “majoring in the minors.” An intimate relationship with God is an end; our daily quiet time is one means that God might use to achieve that end. The Christian life is ultimately about our affections, about habits of the heart that are naturally expressed in love for God and people and in godly behavior. Our first and foremost calling (and privilege) as children of God is to “love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind” (Matthew 22:37). But how can we possibly do this?
Our love for God is always our heartfelt response to our genuine experience of God’s love (1 John 4:19). Love for God does not originate in our hearts but is catalyzed by God’s love for us as His light illumines our hearts. For the first time we experience true agape love, which is God’s unconditional love, as a gift from God. “For the love of Christ controls us,” the Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:14. The entire book of Hosea, as well as Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:7-21, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4, Titus 3:4 and many other passages testify to the transforming power of God’s unfailing love for us, demonstrated in the most dramatic way possible—by sending His Son to die in our place. The realization and acceptance of this wonderful demonstration of agape love by God for us is the basis on which our experience of an intimate relationship with God can begin.
The mainspring in a traditional watch is the source of mechanical energy to run the watch. This energy source has to be replenished periodically by rewinding the watch. For many Christians, the traditional watch is a metaphor for their spiritual lives, with weekly church services providing the periodic spiritual rewinding. However, a more desirable metaphor for the Christian life would be a quartz watch which operates on solar power. Power from the sun (or Son in our case) can operate the watch indefinitely. On the other hand, when the watch is not in direct contact with the energy from the sun, it soon ceases to operate. Apart from our experience of God’s love, we are like a watch with a dead battery or a fully discharged mainspring, with no motivation or direction in our Christian lives.
Understanding God’s Great Love
Consider a linguistically-challenged graduate student having to pass a German translation examination as part of requirements for a doctorate. If the student is not expecting to do much, if any, real translation work after graduation, his or her motivation to study German might be undermined. Needless to say, such a student would have to try very hard to discipline himself or herself to study German in anticipation of the examination. Can you imagine how much more difficult it would be for the student to be disciplined for study if he or she were told that all students would pass the examination, no matter how poorly they performed? On the other hand, if the student had just married a German citizen who spoke no English, can you imagine how motivated he or she would be to study German, quite apart from the guaranteed passage of the examination for the Ph.D. program? Many Christians know their sins are forgiven, i.e., they are guaranteed to pass the “big final exam at the final judgment.” Yet, their understanding of God’s love is so poor that they miss what could be a much higher motivation for living Christ-like lives: a deep and abiding love for God which acts like the solar battery in a quartz watch.
In Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, John Piper makes the very exciting point that “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.” He replaces “and” with “by” in the Westminster Catechism, noting that it is by enjoying (and loving) God that we glorify Him. When we operate out of duty or obligation alone, it not only becomes burdensome, but also it does not truly please or glorify God. Suppose you sent flowers to your spouse or friend every year on some special occasion. If this act were done out of some sense of duty on your part or some requirement by the other person, it would have stripped the act of any loving significance. If the flowers were sent out of uncoerced love apart from any necessity, the other person would, of course, feel very special. In the same way, our uncoerced acts of love for God honor and please Him.
Some Christian writers incorrectly claim that love is simply “right actions,” but the Bible repeatedly teaches that right actions spring from right motives; namely, love for God and our fellow man. Jesus admonished, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me” (Mark 7:6). Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). In Acts 20:35, as Paul encourages the Corinthians to help the weak and poor, he commands them to remember it is more blessed to give than to receive. Joyful giving was being commended, not just giving. Our good deeds done out of duty or obligation (to try to gain favor with God) rather than out of love do not count, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.
Finally, let us consider the possibility discussed by John Piper in Desiring God that the ultimate in “enlightened self-interest” (for, as Hebrews 11:6 states, God is a rewarder of those who seek Him) is to be found in the sublime experience of God’s love, with the loving and joyful response toward God that results. Allow C. S. Lewis to make this point for you in his profound and insightful way in a sermon entitled The Weight of Glory:
If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, ‘unselfishness.’ But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied ‘love.’ Do you see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philosophical importance. The negative ideal of ‘unselfishness’ carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of ‘love.’ The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire.
If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
A few brief examples from the Scriptures should entice us:
- Delight yourself in the Lord. Psalm 37:4
- As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. Psalm 42:1
- In Your presence is fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11
- O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you. Psalm 63:1
- God, my joy and my delight . . . Psalm 43:4
- Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8
- Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 1 Peter 1:8
- If you call the Sabbath a delight . . . then you will find your joy in the Lord. Isaiah 58:13
- I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Philippians 3:8
Thus, our walk of obedience to Christ as Christian professors is an expression of our love for God, not a requirement to earn God’s love (John 14:21, 1 John 5:2-4). May we be motivated by the love of God in each and everything that we do.
Character Attributes
The Christian professor who is motivated by the love of God leading to a passionate love for God will possess many of the following attributes:
- Seeks to see Christ more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly, day by day.
- Controlled by the love of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14).
- Seeks God’s grace in cultivating godly “habits of the heart,” in particular a passionate affection for God.
- Understands that the ultimate in “enlightened self-interest” is to be found in the sublime experience of God’s love (Hebrews 11:6).
- Understands God’s grace and unconditional love and acceptance of us through Christ’s death on the cross (Romans 5:8).
Suggested Reading
Colson, Charles. Loving God. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 1987. (with Study Guide)
Guinness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville, TN: Word Publishing. 1998.
Piper, John. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Portland, OR: Multnomah. 1986, 1996.
Nee, Watchman. The Normal Christian Life. Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade. 1961.
Yancy, Philip. What’s So Amazing About Grace? Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 1998.
Action Steps. Record here any steps you feel impressed to take as a result of having considered the material in this section on Love Motivation.
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