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What is the motivation for recovery? If it’s primarily fear we have a problem. Fear-based recovery can inspire action at first but eventually exhausts us.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”
— Romans 12:1 (NIV 1984)
Resources
- Romans 8-16 For You, a Study by Timothy Keller (Amazon affiliate link)
See excerpt from study below…
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Bonus Excerpt from Romans 8-16 For You by Timothy Keller (p. 102)
What is the motivation for Christian living? Why do we obey? Is it fear or grace?
Fear-based obedience is more negative (afraid of punishment) than it is positive (grateful for grace).
If fear is the primary motivation for our obedience the following effects:
- Our motivation will lose its power over time. Fear as an emotion is very draining. It moves you to great feats at first, but eventually is exhausting. People who live in great fear experience a numbing effect after a while. Slowly, one becomes too tired to care, indifferent to what happens. Fear-based religion therefore often tends to be short-lived.
- Also, fear-based obedience has a great deal of trouble with repentance. When we are motivated by fear, we believe that somewhere there is a “line”; if we sin too much, we cross it, and God will condemn us. But we don’t know where that line is. As a result, repentance is not a sweet thing but very bitter. We don’t have the security to admit our sins for fear of reprisals from God, so we do a lot of rationalizing and blaming.
- Fear-based obedience will always make it difficult to endure suffering or troubles. The fear-based person will either think: God is paying me back! God has abandoned me! Maybe I crossed the line this time… or: This isn’t fair! I obey so that God will bless me, so that these bad things won’t happen! In other words, despair or bitterness will be the result of suffering if one’s Christian life is fear-based.
