Incite other to love

Today’s thought deals with encouraging or provoking one another to love.
“Heb 10:24 ISV And let us continue to consider how to motivate one another to love and good deeds,”. 

As we are in this season of Thanksgiving, let’s continue the journey we began and learn to incite others to love.  The word motivate means provide (someone) with a motive for doing something. The word motive means a reason for doing something, especially one that is hidden or not obvious.  The thought today is how do we give others a reason for doing something that is not obvious. This goes against the very nature of what we learn in the world culture. We often fail at this task because we have not grasped the understanding that what we do is not for others recognition or their accolades. Hidden means not seen.

Today I want to challenge each of you to walk in this hidden state to encourage those who are most affected by our presence to love with no intent of receiving a reward or notice from others. We fall short of the goal of hidden motivation when we tie an expectation or a response from others as we walk this journey with our own expectations of acknowledgement from others for our sacrifice of love.  This leads us down a path on the journey that we become frustrated, resentful and we grow weary because we look at the actions of others. We judge their acts and their thoughts, yet we forget that we too are being judged for our actions and thoughts or the lack of those actions. How easy it is to try to remove the toothpick from our brother eye when we have a board in our own eye?  Can you imagine the sight restriction as we look at others with our obstructed vision? When we view things from our own perspective, it really clouds the picture, and we lose the reason why. 
 
Now let’s get back to provoking one another to love. Inspiration comes in many forms but let me confess that I can assure you it does not come in the form of criticism. Even what we call constructive criticism, which lacks the grace required to give others the desire to love beyond what has been shown to them. They cannot understand what they cannot see modeled in front of them. You would say then this is impossible.

But I want to remind you of men and women in the bible that came from broken destructive backgrounds that were able to excel under the circumstances that they were experiencing.  David was motivated although his brothers thought he was seeking glory when he heard of the giant Goliath.   His actions prompted a nation to rise up and fight its oppressors. What really did a shepherd boy have to offer seasoned soldiers who had been fighting since their youth. The answer is a hidden motivation and a relationship with a living God. The love for Gomer, the prophet Hosea portrayed no matter how he looked to others, nor how he was treated by Gomer. This story never ends with Gomer repenting nor asking for forgiveness but a motivated husband purchasing what was rightfully his.  This motivated a nation to understand its relationship with their God and hopefully our motivation to the same.
 
And finally, Jesus while we were still sinners dying for us. This last act of love is the reason we have assurance of the love that we also can give. It was hidden because those who were most in need did not know that it was being done on their behalf. Those beloved are you and I. Today challenge is to motivate others with the same love that we receive without any return expected. Although there is no return expected the investment will be more than satisfying as there will be a tenfold or even a hundredfold increase in this.  

​Have a great day and love secretly and compassionately. God bless you, my beloved.