What are you waiting for?
After a recent talk, a guy told me he was a little disappointed because the staff at his recovery program wasn’t providing as much motivation as he’d anticipated. He offered a sports analogy. He wanted a coach constantly pushing, yelling, forcing him to do his best. Apparently that worked for him as a high school athlete.
“So why do you think they don’t do that here?”
“I don’t know. It’s just like out in the world, like they don’t care if I make it or not.”
“So let’s look at it differently. Does my story motivate you?” (It was a trick question.)
“No. It’s like we said in the discussion. Your story is inspiring. It makes people want to go out and do stuff, be better, dream bigger.”
“Do you see the difference between inspiration and motivation?” He wasn’t sure.
Motivation can be internal or external. External motivation, the kind my friend expected, is always coercive because it’s intended to alter another’s behavior. It can be negative (punishment) or positive (rewards) but it’s always about power and control. It’s about restricting freedom.
Internal motivation is something entirely different, because behavior is chosen by the individual.
You see the problem, right? My friend learned to rely on external motivation. The parent, the coach, the boss–it’s their job to tell him the right thing to do and get him to do it.
The problem, of course, is when that source of external motivation disappears or loses its influence, folks like my friend are left confused because they never developed an internal compass. He didn’t know how to deal with freedom.
The staff was intentionally removing external motivation because they know the guys need to learn to motivate themselves.
Inspiration is the opposite of expiration. It’s life-giving, breathing in.
It’s God’s model. He never wants to frighten us into compliance. All the fear and threats and rules are human stuff. Jesus says, “I paid the price. Now go and be free and love people.”
Jesus breathes life, love, hope, and grace into us. It’s an inspiration model–no coercion, no fear, no guilt. We take it in and decide how to respond.
Are you waiting to be motivated? I’d suggest considering a baby who came to inspire a life of freedom.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
It’s easier to let someone else decide, make the rules, and set your agenda. You can gripe if you’re unhappy and blame if it goes wrong.
Trouble is, Jesus isn’t about easy.
Please leave a comment here.
Want to receive free updates?
Click below to get Bouncing Back
delivered directly to your inbox.
Inspiration is the opposite of expiration. It’s life-giving, breathing in.