Finding Your Motivation to Change
Change is hard. Almost impossible to do without the right motivation. Do you have a personal “why” behind how you steward your physical health? If it is to look good or feel better, I’d venture to say it is still not strong enough to maintain when that sugary carbohydrate is in view. We are eternal beings with an eternal destiny. If our “why” isn’t linked to the core of our being, I’m not sure it’s sustainable, especially when staying warm in bed is an option.
Taking care of your body, the temple God gave you, is linked to the good works Jesus prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). Those eternal works are judged at the Bema Seat of Christ; some will be burned up like wood, straw and hay and some will last like precious stones. How you take care of you, determines how you steward those good works. That is a WHY I can get behind. Motivation is an odd thing. We often wait to feel ‘it’ to do ‘it’. The reality is, the feeling of motivation is fostered through the ‘doing’. What is it we are to do then? The thing we don’t feel like doing. And as we do it, motivation increases. Stewardship is a lifelong pursuit. It develops with time, resources, relationships and intentionality.
I remember in one season, God asked me to wake up with the sun and walk with him, and then again with him at sunset. This not only impacted my physical health, but more importantly, my emotional, mental and spiritual health. And that is what I truly needed at the season. In that same time, a friend reached out and shared a fun fact: watching the sunrise boosts serotonin, vitamin D, regulates sleep patterns and reduces stress. A beautiful reminder that God designed us to flourish as we take care of ourselves. Psalms 113:3 says, “from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised.”
May we steward our time, body, energy and rest in such a way that we are enabled to run well and present works that will withstand the test of fire (1 Corinthians 3:15).