This post is all about how to stay motivated in God.
As we go from day to day on this Christian journey, there will be times when we don’t always feel as zealous or motivated to keep going. Whether it is because of the daily ups and downs of life, or something terribly tragic that happened to us, we can find ourselves losing the passion we once had for God and this Christian life.
If you feel this way, you are not alone. It is not easy to be a Christian. It is not easy to push through temptation and hardships and deny ourselves the worldly pleasures of life. This Christian life can be challenging, and it is normal to feel discouraged; we all are at some point. The most important thing during this time is to know how to move through these difficult circumstances with grace and never give up. Here are 5 excellent tips to stay motivated in Christ, and not lose your crown.
How to stay motivated in God
1. Remember why you are here
“And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”” Exodus 33:14 NKJV
“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” Hebrews 13:5 NKJV
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.” Psalms 27:4 NKJV
When you feel discouraged, the best thing you can do is remember why you started in the first place. Ask yourself: Why am I a Christian? This is a heavy question but an important one to always ask yourself during these times of weariness.
As you will start to see, if you are on this journey for selfish reasons (wanting God to bless you, wanting God to answer all your prayers, even wanting to go to heaven), your passion and energy will start to fade after some time. This is because God is not in the business of granting all of our wishes. He is our Father and knows what is best for us versus what is not. He sees and knows all things, including the future and how we will respond to certain things once we will receive them. God will only give you the best, and only give it to you once you show Him that you are not trying to use him for your own profit.
You see, God wants a relationship with you. I tell people this all the time: the desire for heaven must not be greater than your desire for God. Wanting nice things, to be blessed, and to go to heaven is not wrong. But when we put our own wants and desires before wanting Jesus, we miss out on the salvation of our souls. Heaven is not just about mansions and gold and eternal peace. It is being with Jesus. Jesus will not have someone who only wants the experience and not him. He wants someone who loves him and knows him truly like he does to them.
Your reason of serving God must come from a deep desire to be with God. Anything else will cause you to slip. When your reason of being a Christian is having a deep relationship with Jesus, it becomes easier to push through the fog of discouragement. Yes, it will be difficult at times, but just remember that loving and being with Jesus is all that matters and offers you so much peace, joy, and satisfaction that no one else can ever provide. Don’t lose sight of the intimacy of this because of a temporary pain or distraction. Although it hurts right now, Jesus’ presence is the only thing that will last and he will reward you for your faithfulness.
2. Recall who Jesus is and what he has done
“I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.” Psalms 116:1-2 NKJV
Another great way to stay motivated is to go further into the thought of your relationship with Jesus and remember how great of a person he is. Jesus is so kind, so present, so faithful, so consistent. He loves us completely, and listens to each of our prayers, and cares about us. Think of losing that amazing person. We are a Christian (a follower of Christ) because he is so good.
We can also call to mind the many ways that he has delivered and provided for us. He has done so many incredible things throughout our lives- even just the fact of being alive today is noteworthy. Look back at what Jesus has done and saved you from.
And one thing to note here, if you are a new Christian and you are struggling to relate to knowing the experience of God’s goodness and provision, use that as motivation to find that out and experience it for yourself. What He has done for others, He will do for you.
3. Remember where you are coming from
“This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Psalms 34:6-10 NKJV
The third concept to keep you motivated in God is to remember what Jesus saved you from. So many of us have backstories of how deep they were in lost in sin and how dark it became. For some of us, it was the darkness of suicide and mental health struggles, for others it was addictions and paralyzing traumatic experiences. Your past is your unique story. Whatever it was (even if it was simply being clueless about who God is), don’t go back there. You have new life, salvation of your soul, and a promise of love and eternal peace. Don’t give that up for temporary things.
4. Push through the noise
“You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Galatians 5:7-9 NKJV
The next important thing to do when you are unmotivated is to fight. The Bible often refers to this journey as a fight of faith, a war against spiritual wickedness, and warns us to put on armor to equip ourselves to be ready. This shouldn’t be taken lightly. The enemy is after our souls, and will try at everything and anything to have us fall away from God. This lack of motivation isn’t a simple thing; it is a tactic used by the devil to cause us to drift away from our faith- albeit slowly- and soon will have us lost in sin. Saints, we must be careful.
We must keep praying and fasting and reading out word, engulfing ourselves in the presence of God and not allowing anything to cause our minds to wonder. If you don’t feel like praying, something is attacking your desire in God. You must push past it. You must fight for your soul. This comes down to life and death. If you imagine someone trying to kill your physical body, you probably fight to get away and live. This fight isn’t for a temporary life, it for eternal life, something that will never end. Your soul is precious, and the enemy knows that. He is already guaranteed eternal death and is trying to get as much people he can to go with him.
Purpose in your heart that you are for God. Let yourself have no excuse. God will help you with this fight, and you will not do it alone by any measure. But you have to take the initiative and move forward. Never lose sight of how serious this is.
5. Abstain from temptation
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12 NKJV
A common way we lose our faith and motivation in God is by involving ourselves in too many distractions that cause us to look away from God and look to the world. I know, personally, if I spend too much time on social media, and get engulfed in the wrong indulgence of worldly material lusts and experiences, it has a negative effect on my journey and passion for Christ. I start to think about it too long and too often, and it gradually shifts my mindset from the things of God to the things of the world.
Don’t let this be you. It’s hard to come back from that place. I have since learned to limit my time on social media and be more cautious of what I look at and what I listen to. Sometimes temptation comes in subtle ways. It might be a movie that glorifies premarital sex, or a song that glorifies drugs and drunkenness. It might be certain areas or friends that you spend time around that causes your mind to wander away from God’s will and start to desire other sinful things.
Be vigilant and aware of what you partake in day by day. Everything has an influence on you. Even in small doses, poison taken daily will kill. Recognize your boundaries and know when you are starting to slip or get tempted and reground yourself in the word of God. Remember that the things of this world are all temporary and will hurt your soul and damage your relationship with God and your access to eternal life. Sin is corrosive, and if we leave a crack open, it will slither in and multiply over time.
Conclusion
In Conclusion, staying motivated in Christ is work. We must fight in this war for our souls because the enemy is never letting up. We must be strong, steady, and realize that
In anything we go through, it makes us better and stronger. We have this promise and assurance in Christ that He wastes nothing. Every trial we go through, in every storm of life, all things are working for our good, and no suffering can be compared to the glory of heaven that is ahead.
Stay firm, be steadfast, and God will be right there with you, keeping you and helping you through it all.
This post was all about how to stay motivated in God.
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