So I was reading:
James 4:6-7 "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the
humble." Therefore submit to God.
I thought I can't submit to God unless I'm motivated enough to do it. That's easy enough to understand. But there's a double-mindedness to my spirituality that I had to address there (James 1:7-8). If I left it at that I wasn't addressing the root issue, so I continued to the root motivation so I could have a pure one, while having enough of it to have victory over the sin. Leaving my view at "I can't" was an excuse no matter how tempted I am because of this truth: 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.". And all excuses are examples of setting man's knowledge above the word of God 2 Corinthians 10:5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". Yet, it is good to examine the motivation of past failures so I can move past them, so I was honest and rewound till I got to my thought of failure which would later give birth to my sin. James 1:15 "Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." My argument was if I don't have enough faith in God and love of Him, I won't be motivated enough to submit to God." But that's blaming God for my sins. Because I knew that the bible says that faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8) and the love of God is a result of God drawing us to Himself (John 12:32). If only I could find the motivation to submit to God, right? Okay.. so far what's my motivation? To glorify God and to enjoy God, so is the creed of men of the orthodox religion of Christ servitude. So far none of these are very strong for me because to enjoy God I would have to have victory in my iniquity; and to glorify God is too vague because I don't know God enough yet. And I don't know God enough yet because I don't have victory in my iniquity. Psalm 18:26 "To the pure You show yourself pure." Then I wondered as in times past if I was allowed to be motivated by self glory, because if so then that might solve the motivation problem altogether. Then I remembered Luke 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Back to James 4:6-7 To submit to God is to be humble, and when we are humble, God promises He will exalt us. The therefore is there to say at least part of the reason why we should submit to God--so we can experience God exalting us! The idea of marinating and soaking and meditating in the fact that God will exalt us for our humbleness is exactly the motivation I require to submit to God and simultaneously activate my other motivations! I can glorify God and enjoy God because I can enjoy God by having real hope of victory with my new found motivation and I can know God through my victory as well to energize me to enjoy God. Amen! And don't forget these other motivation driven verses.1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. And James 1:2 "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." This seems like reward driven motivation to me, just what I need to succeed! In conclusion, let this be your verse. Romans 12:9 "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." This is where our zeal should go.
