Love as a motivation

Dear friend

What motivates God to do all the things He does for us? It is not a hard question. The answer is confirmed in this verse from the Old Testament, Isaiah 63:7.

7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.

What a great phrase, "the multitude of his lovingkindnesses". The Father and the Son love us and are kind to us in a multiplicity of ways. And how did we, the people of this world, show our thanks for this infinite magnanimity when He came among us in person? Again, the question is not a difficult one. The answer is starkly summarised in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 19:9.

9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.

Even after the rancorous regicidal event, it is hard to conceive how people could so readily conspire to kill their God. Of course, it was eternally necessary that Jesus Christ should be sacrificed, but our fellow earthlings did the deed most despicably. Yet His response to the prejudicial persecution was to submit with an act of "greater love".

The Lord's key message was to follow Him and to do the things He did. The key virtue He exemplified was love. So for the third easy question, what does that mean we need to develop? If there were any doubt, the Apostle Paul summed up the answer in the New Testament, Ephesians 4:32.

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

"Lovingkindness", it sounds so sweet a word to say. I pray we can find it as something sweet to do, and even sweeter to be.

Samuel.

Zeal as a motivation for good

Dear friend

If someone were to call you a zealot you might not be too happy. Zealots were a sect among the Jews who were known for their strict focus on the law. Their determination in this direction has led to a negative connotation to the name zealot. It is rarely a compliment.

However, the scriptures are very encouraging of zeal as a characteristic. For example from the New Testament, Galatians 4:18.

18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

The Apostle Paul clearly approves of zeal as a motivating force. I think his generic "good thing" category of potential positive activities can refer to such uses of our time as regular prayer, scripture study, giving service to others, or any other "good" pursuit.

The etymology of zeal includes Middle English, late Latin and Greek, as well as biblical sources. It is described as fervour, ardent love, or longing in relation to some type of pursuit. That doesn't sound too negative. In fact, we could maybe all do with this kind of unfailing commitment to continuing in Paul's good things.

Without using the word zeal, I believe this verse encapsulates the spirit of righteous zeal. It is from Doctrine and Covenants 58:27.

27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

I believe it is central to the reasons for our being on the earth that we are anxious to do good works. If we follow Jesus Christ then we must recognise that is what He did everywhere He went. I think there are more good things we could choose to do than there is time to do them. So it should be easy to find good activities to pursue to use up our time on earth.

I hope we can become positively zealous when it comes to doing the good things. This doesn't mean we become obsessive or self-righteous. We should try to develop an infectious zeal that motivates others. Zeal is good for doing good.

Samuel.