WHAT'S YOUR MOTIVE FOR SERVING?

WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVE FOR SERVING?

 

Remember, you are the influential woman today! I’ll take over the parts you’ve typically been doing on

Days 1–59, so don’t worry about those. Just have fun being influential.

 

What is your real underlying motive for much of the apparently good stuff you do? It’s amazing how often there is a huge disparity between our impure motives and the supposed goodness of our actions. Think about it. Things are not always what they seem. Is there sometimes a gaping chasm between how you really feel versus how you pretend to feel? Bottom line: only God and you know for sure! It is important to purify your motives, before you ask your Lord to reveal your next purpose-in-life.

 

NOW THERE’S AN INTERESTING MOTIVE!

 

When you serve, are you really trying to impress someone with your talent, beauty, or knowledge? Do you serve to mask your pain or boredom, to satisfy your curiosity, or to relieve your guilt? When you give generously, are you actually trying to enhance your reputation or be forgiven? Do you do things just to feel good or get a thrill? Do you go to church to fulfill your obligation? Do you get involved to manipulate a response or take advantage of someone? In reality, is it to get a reaction, pity, recognition, or money? Do you volunteer in your child’s classroom primarily to critique the new teacher or ward off loneliness? Do you share prayer requests for a chance to gossip? Or, is your agenda to give glory to God? Is it to represent Jesus to someone by serving him or her? Is it to spread the good news of the gospel or to ask for God’s help? Listen to what this influential woman has to say about her motives.

 

1. What’s your first and last name?

 

2. What is a general, one-sentence description of yourself as God sees you—as a godly, influential woman?

 

3. How would you describe your personal life? (This section is about who you are, as if it already were how you and God wanted it to be. There are no right or wrong topics to include in this introductory section; however, save comments about your “spirituality” and “reason you were born” for questions 4 and 5.)

 

4. How would you describe your spirituality, as if it already were how you and God wanted it to be?

 

5. How would you describe why you were born, as if you were living the life you were meant to live? This is where you should talk boldly about what God has asked you to do or about your unique life purpose, as if it has already happened! It should be more specific than your personal or spiritual answers above. Write a GOD-SIZED response overflowing with his best design for your life!

 

6. How would you answer today’s question: “What’s Your Motive for Serving?”

 

7. Will you write a two-sentence quote, as a woman of influence, to give some clarity or hope or advice to others about the importance of having pure motives?

 

What’s Your Motive?

 

Katie’s Answer:

 

To answer that question, I have to ask you what day of the week it is because that’s about how often my motives change. For the most part, my motives for serving others are because God is my God and he has commanded me to love others, forgive them, wash their feet, point them to Jesus, disciple them, and worship with them. I serve to obey God and bring him glory. I serve because my heart breaks over the evil in this world. I want to be a change agent who helps people know the power, mercy, and grace of God. So, that’s how I’m feeling today. Other days I serve to impress people, to be thanked, to feel good about my contribution, or to relieve my guilt. I think the one impure motive that disgusts me the most is when I serve to try to get attention.

 

Samuel Learned about Motives

 

When Samuel anointed David king over Israel, the Lord told Samuel not to look at David’s outward appearance, because he, the Lord, looks at the heart. Read 1 Samuel 16:1–13. Are you any good at reading other people’s hidden motives?

 

Katie’s Answer:

 

Yes, I would say that I am. Probably because I’ve got so many hidden ones myself, I’ve become quite good at spotting hypocrisy!

 

SCRIPTURE TO PONDER

 

We justify our actions by appearances; GOD examines our motives. (Proverbs 21:2, MSG)

 

SUGGESTED PRAYER

 

Dear Lord God, help me, [Katie], not to be self-deceived, not to justify my actions because, on the surface, they appear good. Instead, teach me to examine my motives like you do. Today I pray that I will see my wrong motives in your crystal-clear light. Forgive me for all the times I have acted out of impure motives. And, thank you that you have helped me to have right motives in your sight many times. Convict me daily with the acid test: “Are my motives pleasing to you, God?”

 

So . . . What Insight, Prayer, or Action Step Has God Laid on Your Heart Today?

 

Katie’s Answer:

 

Today, I will ask my ministry partner if she would like to go to lunch on Sunday at noon or sometime within the next two weeks. At lunch, I will ask her if she will be my accountability partner in this area of pure and impure motives. I will give her permission to ask me about my motives for any and all assignments and relationships, and I will promise her a blunt response each time she asks.

 

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE NEEDS FURTHER CLARIFICATION?

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE NEEDS FURTHER CLARIFICATION?

 

When you clarify something, you illuminate it or shed light on

it. Ask yourself today: “What area of my life still needs a floodlight

shined on it?” There’s so much to figure out and so little

time to do it, that you even need to be clear about what you

need clarified! In other words, ask God specifically what you

want to know. Learning to ask for clarity is a skill that will help

you become all God intends for you to become.

 

HELP, I NEED CLARITY!

 

Are you still having trouble trying to decide where to worship

on Sundays or what school to choose? Do you need help

clarifying what house rules to set for teenagers, how to help a

friend who is a hypochondriac, or how to find a spiritual growth

mentor? Do you need clarification about whether to ask a secular

expert or a Christian counselor for advice, what cause to

champion, what rights to give up, what goals to set, how to

find a job that uses your passion and spiritual gifts, or how to

establish a budget? Are your supervisor’s instructions still

unclear to you, or do you need more information about a

health issue? Becky Tirabassi has sold more than a million

books, tapes, and videos, including Change Your Life, but she

is ready for God to clarify one important assignment.

 

BECKY TIRABASSI VALUES CLARITY

 

Becky is president of Becky Tirabassi Change Your Life®

Inc., a multimedia (television, radio, and publishing) company

designed to encourage people to change their lives for the better—

physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. She has

been married for more than twenty-five years and is the mother

of an adult son.

 

Two decades ago, Becky made a commitment to God to

pray for an extended time each day, and she is humbled that he

has helped her keep that commitment. She believes that these

appointments with God have singlehandedly changed every

area of her life, and that they will continue to do so! Becky

shares that, from the moment of her dramatic conversion to

Christ at age twenty-one, lifting her from alcoholism and

immorality, she was compelled to share the love, forgiveness,

and power of the living, loving God with anyone who would

listen. She was drawn especially to those who were seeking love,

hope, and truth, but who were not going to a church to find

the answers. After a forty-day partial fast eight years ago, she

felt God directing her to start a company designed to creatively

reach unbelievers with a balanced-life message. Today, this company

is helping millions of Christians and those seeking Christ.

 

Becky isn’t timid about asking what next steps she needs

clarified to pursue her own television talk show. She comments

that she feels similar to how Joshua probably felt standing at

the edge of the Jordan River before crossing over. She knows

that she must take a step of faith, believing God to do the

impossible, yet the outcome is ominous unless God intervenes

to open doors. On the tough days, when nothing but rejection

calls come in, it’s easy to wonder if she heard God correctly.

 

But fueled by faith, tenacity, and her husband’s encouragement,

she is compelled by the dream God put in her heart many years

ago that will not go away: to take the good news to those who

need him, don’t know him, and have misconceptions about

him and Christians.

 

She says, “My greatest resource for ongoing clarification has

been the prayer journal, My Partner, God prompted me to

design. If I did not write down that I regularly hear him telling

me to keep coming, the disappointments would have caused me

to give up long ago. But because God makes just enough time

in my schedule each day for me to read from my 365-day Bible

and then journal, there is one voice I continue to hear above all

others.”

 

What in Your Life Needs Further Clarification? Martha Needed Clarification

 

Martha needed to understand the value of being versus

doing, to realize that sitting at Jesus’ feet, like her sister Mary,

was just as vital as preparing the evening meal. Read Luke

10:38–42. Is the balance between being and doing something

you need clarified?

 

SCRIPTURE TO PONDER

 

“I [God] speak to him [Moses] face to face, directly and not in riddles! He sees the LORD as he is.” (Numbers 12:8, NLT)

 

SUGGESTED PRAYER

 

Dear Lord God, speak to me, _________, face to face, directly

and not in riddles! I want to hear your voice clearly and see you

as you are. Today I pray for clarification from you about all

aspects of my life and about my next steps, every step of the way.

I ask for my eyes to be opened as you allow me to see the truth

you want me to see. Take away all of my deliberate, spiritual

blindness.

 

So . . . What Insight, Prayer, or Action Step Has God Laid on Your Heart Today?

 

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM ONE OF YOUR FAILURES?

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM ONE OF YOUR FAILURES?

 

You can’t escape failure. It can crop up in your vocation, education,

marriage, or parenting. It can be a moral failure, a sin

of omission, or a case of poor judgment. What’s the benefit of

digging up an old failure and reliving that sadness? Why bother

to recall an ethical, legal, financial, or relational problem? It’s

for one reason only: so you can record what, if anything, you

learned from it. God is patient, but he is also lovingly persistent.

He expects you to learn from your mistakes or to retake

the test. So, what good thing have you learned from one of

your failures? Remember that each failure you learn from will

be one less failure you have to worry about during God’s next

purpose for your life.

 

THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF FAILURES

 

The value of a failure is in what you learn from it. For example,

through a failure, did God teach you to consider others’

feelings, to pray for wisdom, or to think before you speak? What

was the takeaway from one of your failures? Did you learn to set

appropriate boundaries, live in gratitude, stop judging others,

or show kindness to those who hate you? Did you learn not to

take shortcuts; that perfectionism can give you an ulcer; that

what goes around comes around; or that God is faithful?

Dottie McDowell, wife and helpmate of Josh at Campus

Crusade for Christ, eventually decided to take bold measures to

pass the test that she felt she had failed too many times.

 

DOTTIE MCDOWELL GETS DO-OVERS

 

After becoming a Christian in her senior year of college,

Dottie prayed that God would allow her to marry a man who

wanted to make an impact for Christ around the world. The

Lord directly answered that prayer. She soon met and married

her husband Josh, who became an international author and lecturer

with Campus Crusade for Christ. It is her joy and privilege

to help Josh reach people with the gospel message.

 

In the front of Dottie’s Bible, she has written these words:

“The most important thing I can do in life is to take God’s

Word seriously.” Her fervent prayer is that she will be faithful

to this challenge and that she will help others to do the same.

She says she is blessed to have been raised by a loving mother

who constantly told her what a delight and honor it is to be a

mom. God used her mother’s life to instill in Dottie a desire to

be a mom who trusts the Lord. She believes that God, in turn,

has called her to encourage others—especially mothers—to

trust him and to delight in the children he has given them.

 

Dottie recalls one of her repeated failures: “I sometimes sent

one or more of my children off to school with an unkind word

or attitude. I learned that I could do something about this particular

failure. I made a vow that if I acted in this way, I’d stuff

my pockets with candy kisses, drive right over to the school,

get the child out of class, apologize—and then share the candy

kisses!” She adds, “Always ask God for a chance to start over.

He is a God of second chances—and third, and fourth, and

fifth!”

 

What Have You Learned from One of Your Failures? Peter Failed

 

Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. Later, Jesus gave

Peter a chance to accept him three times. Peter did, and then

went on to serve and lead others. Read Mark 14:66–72 and

John 21:15–19. If Jesus reached out to Peter with abundant

love after Peter had failed him so brashly, don’t you think the

Savior of the world will do the same for you when you fail?

 

SCRIPTURE TO PONDER

 

No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be,

but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing:

Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize

for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

(Philippians 3:13–14, NLT)

 

SUGGESTED PRAYER

 

Dear Lord, I, _________, admit to you and to my dear

brothers and sisters that I am still not all I should be, but I am

focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past

and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the

end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through

Christ Jesus, is calling me up to heaven.Today I thank you for

forgiving me for all my failures! I ask you to stay by my side,

as I learn from my next mistakes.

 

So . . . What Insight, Prayer, or Action Step Has God Laid on Your Heart Today?

 

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST HOPE OR DEEPEST LONGING?

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST HOPE OR DEEPEST LONGING?

 

Many women have trouble focusing on their greatest hopes and

deepest longings. Some feel they don’t deserve the incredible

gift; others are too tired to care about such unrealistic loftiness;

still others refuse to verbalize their wish for fear of it coming

true and changing their life. Pause for a moment to remember

who put hopes and longings in your soul. God did! Acknowledge

him and thank him for his love. What do you hope for or

long for that, perhaps, you’ve never told another living soul

before? What would, absolutely, be too great a gift to you?

 

What would cause you to shake your head in disbelief and live

in gratitude? Pray persistently until your miracle arrives, and in

the meantime, do your part with utmost faithfulness. Make this

exercise today a prayer to God about your hopes and longings.

 

If you honestly can’t think of anything that you long for right

now, just smile and pray in full anticipation that you will soon

discover or rediscover it! God wired you to have hopes and

longings.

 

WHAT WOULD ROCK YOUR WORLD?

 

For a moment, try to ignore all possible excuses for not

being able to dream. Do you wish you could live in a house

with a white picket fence, see the world, gain or lose weight,

explore the arts, or run a marathon? Do you hope to take piano

lessons, learn sign language, or regain your health? Do you pray

diligently about having a child, finding a book agent, or becoming

a career missionary? Do you want to get married, take a

sabbatical, or get out of debt? Do you long to hear your unique

assignment in God’s “glory story,” use more of your giftedness

in your career, or see your daughter marry a loving, Christian

man who would be the spiritual leader of their household?

Remember, dreams do come true! Let Nancy Stafford, who

played Andy Griffith’s law partner for five years on the television

show, Matlock, share one of her greatest hopes with you.

 

NANCY STAFFORD HAS SEEN DREAMS COME TRUE

 

Nancy has been a costar on numerous television series and

movies. Host of TV’s Main Floor for the past nine years, she

also has authored two books: The Wonder of His Love: A

Journey into the Heart of God and Beauty by the Book: Seeing

Yourself as God Sees You. As a speaker and author, she sets out

to lead others toward freedom and wholeness. She loves helping

them realize their true identity and worth, and thus grasp

the depth of God’s great love for them.

 

Nancy has a passion for quieting her soul and pursuing

intimacy with God. She and her husband, Larry Myers, a pastor

and worship leader, operate their ranch retreat center in

Southern California where people can go to restore and refresh

their souls and to work on creative projects.

 

Nancy says that one of her greatest hopes is that she will

continue to be used by God to help others get their dreams out

of their hearts and into reality. She says that this often happens

with prayer, reflection, and Holy Spirit–led conversations in the

peaceful ranch setting. Nancy longs to develop a more intentional

mentoring process to help people devote their lives to

Christ and his plans.

 

She says, “God has given each of us a dream—a treasure—

as an aspect of his own heart. To discover the gift that he’s

placed in your heart, ask yourself, ‘What burdens me?’ and

‘What am I hungering for?’ And don’t forget to help others

along the way—because as we help others fulfill their godly

dreams and vision, we begin to see more clearly the dream God

has placed in our own heart.”

 

What Is Your Greatest Hope or Deepest Longing? King David Had a Longing

 

King David, the Levites, and the people of Israel dreamed

of bringing the ark of the Lord’s covenant to Jerusalem. It had

been in Baalah for twenty years. Read 1 Chronicles 15:1–16:3.

Do you feel like you have been waiting forever (five, ten, twenty

years) for your longing to come to fruition? If yes, how are you

holding up?

 

SCRIPTURE TO PONDER

 

All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. (Psalm 38:9)

 

SUGGESTED PRAYER

 

O dear Lord, all my longings lie open before you; my sighing is

not hidden from you. Today I, _________, pray that you will

grant me or inspire in me a great hope, a deep longing. Help

me not feel selfish or guilty for wanting to have and become all

you desire. At the same time, I surrender to you even my present

and future longings and your providential intervention in

making them come true. I put each day in your capable hands.

 

So . . . What Insight, Prayer, or Action Step Has God Laid on Your Heart Today?