Day 61: 1 Thessalonians 2:5-6

“For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.”



Motivations is a very important thing. God doesn’t only judge us for our actions, but for our motivations as well. Unfortunately for us this means that we can do good things for the wrong reasons, thus sinning, and also have good things we try to do go completely bad. Kind of a bummer.


Here’s three motivations that you don’t want to get caught with as you spend your time as Christian leaders: flattery, greed, or glory. These are three killer motivations. Notice they have nothing to do with bringing glory to God, but rather to yourself. Notice they don’t benefit the Kindgom of God, either. They benefit the kingdom of you.


This world is full of salesmen. If you’ve ever been on the wrong end of a sales pitch, you know what it’s like, and usually, you can tell what the salesman’s motivation is. Usually they want to sell you something so they get paid. It’s their job. Sometimes they are trying to sell you an idea, and they tell you how smart you’ll be or good looking you’ll be if you will only use their product or adopt their idea. Commercials are good at this. Other times, they are selling themselves. They want you to know how good they are.


Please don’t misunderstand me: I’m not beating up salespeople; I’m just saying a Christian leader doesn’t employ the motivations of greed, glory, or flattery when we tell others about Jesus Christ, or lead in our businesses or ministries.


Our motivations must be pure, love for God, which leads us to share the gospel because God wants us to, and love of others, which will lead us to take care of others and do things for them, not us.


A Christian leader has to live of course, and we’re all prideful enough that sooner or later we’ll attempt to bring glory to ourselves, but remember: God knows what we need, and He will not leave us to ourselves. If we obey and honor God, He’ll take care of the rest. We don’t need to help Him out. He’s got it covered.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Beware of motivations other than love of God and love of others. They give way to greed, flattery, and glory.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Matthew 6:31-33


Prayer: Master, keep my motivations pure. Help me to remember that You will take care of me, and that You are enough for me. Keep me from greed, glory, and flattery. In Christ’s name, amen.