20180713
Motivation for Work
After our Monday morning Bible study I went to pay for my breakfast and the cashier said, “Dave, yours was already covered.” I don’t know who was so kind to pick up my tab, but I’m grateful for this brother or sister who takes seriously the Apostle Paul’s words, “Let the one who is taught the Word share all good things with the one who teaches.” I want to be even more excited about picking up the tab for others. As Paul finished his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders, he revealed that he was not the kind of pastor who asked for a “pastor’s discount.”
“I have not coveted anyone’s silver, gold, or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I showed you by my labor that it is necessary to help those in need and to remember the Lord Jesus saying, ‘It’s more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:33-35
We all work for many reasons: to see the results of our sweat, to receive recognition for our efforts, and to put food on our tables and clothes on our backs. But through careful experiments, psychologists at the University of Michigan have discovered that one of the most powerful motivations to get folks to work is to give them the opportunity to help others.
Way back in the first century both Jesus and Paul knew this power of working to give, and Paul sought to raise up a host of church leaders who didn’t expect a “preacher’s discount” but instead worked hard so that they themselves could give to others.
LORD, I pray for the day that when I mention “preacher” the first thing people will think is that’s not the group that expects a discount for themselves, but the group that works hard to give to those in need.
For more from Dave Wyrtzen please visit TruthEncounter.com!
Originally published July 13, 2018.
