Message: Motives
Leaders - read Matthew 6:1-18
· Why do you do what you do in your spiritual life. Are your motives pure?
· Acts of giving, serving, and kindness can be done in public, but they need to be for a one-person audience…Jesus.
· Go after Biblical rewards (Intimacy with God and serving God). They last an eternity.
· Rewards are motivation in the spiritual life.
· Example 1: Giving
a. If you give to be seen, your only rewards will be earthly
· Example 2: Prayer
a. Most prayers in the Bible are public; however, you should only be praying for God when you pray.
· Example 3: Fasting
a. Jesus assumes His followers fast.
b. When you fast, do it for Jesus – to seek God and express your love for Him.
· We are to be a mirror that reflects the image of Jesus.
· Live our lives to please Jesus, not for the approval of others. This requires sacrifice.
Questions
- Are aspects of your spiritual life a performance rather than an act of worship?
- Why do you go to church? Read the Bible? Pray at meals? Serve in ministries?
- How can you achieve greater purity in your motives? Which area in your spiritual life is most impure?
- How can you embrace this struggle to achieve purity without getting discouraged?
- When you are around certain people, do you find your motives become less about God and more about those around you or yourself? Are they believers?
- In what ways are you living for this world? The next world?
- What has your experience been with fasting? Did you realize Jesus “assumes” we fast?
- What areas of your life are you reluctant to sacrifice in order to live and die for Jesus?
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