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You can be a good Christian by simply obeying commandments. But you can be an excellent Christian if you develop personal, intrinsic reasons for obeying the commands. This is called “Intrinsic motivation“.

To develop intrinsic motivation, you must have your own drive generated from within.

You cannot have it forced upon you from an outside source – which is called “extrinsic motivation“.

We all start out by being intrinsically motivated. When we were kids, we had the authority of our parents over us. And if we wanted to stay in their good graces and avoid punishment, we would do what they say. Hopefully, as we got older, we began to see some of the truth and logic in what they were telling us. Not that everything they did had good reason, but much of their guidance was rational and intelligent.

As we start to make sense of the reasons why we were told to do certain things, we can begin to be intrinsically motivated by them. We started to see the value in the action itself, rather than just a tool for avoiding pain.

This transformation sometimes takes years and is certainly not completed all at once. But if we are wise, we begin to look for the internal reasons why we should act a specific way.

The best motivation you will ever have is the motivation that comes from within.

Now I cannot dismiss the intense motivation you feel after listening to a motivational speech or watching motivational videos. But that motivation often does not last long enough to make a huge difference in our lives. Perhaps it will keep us motivated for one workout, but where do we go for motivation once the workout is over?

As powerful as every mentor is, you have to develop your own source of internal motivation that you can tap into at any time. This comes from internalizing those motivational speeches and images until they are a part of your thinking.

The most powerful motivation for work, life, or Christianity is that motivation that comes from within.

Just like you begin to see the wisdom of your parents only after several years, you also begin to see the wisdom of the Bible only after years of study. You begin to see the truths in the Bible and understand how they can benefit you in a very practical way. There is nothing fluffy or mystical about the commandments, they are all designed to protect us and to better our lives.

Every time you observe people in the world violating the commands of God, you inevitably see the consequences of those actions shortly after. Many times the commands act as a guardrail, keeping people away from the brutal, negative consequences of their own actions.

Recognizing this allows you to be more likely to keep the commandments. We see the built-in benefits and wisdom, so we stay on the path of discipline. This understanding of the benefits also leads to intrinsic motivation.

This type of motivation will be very unlikely to run out as often as extrinsic motivation. While you will certainly have days where your focus and energy wavers, if you have the motivation that is developed internally, you will have more lasting reservoirs of power, concentration, and discipline.

To build intrinsic motivation, look at and study the benefits of the commandments. Try to understand their practicality. Remember back to all the times in your life where you avoided consequences because of good decision-making. Think of all the times you made your life better by behaving properly.

By thinking this way, you begin to build evidence in your mind for the Christian lifestyle. The way you live begins to make more sense. You understand the roots of your own actions. This understanding allows you to put some positive behaviors on autopilot. This automation of good behavior is the holy grail. If you can behave properly without even thinking about it, you can win. That is what intrinsic motivation and the development of good habits can do for you.

“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” ~ Ephesians 6:4

We hear about this concept all the time – what does it mean? If many fathers knew, they would likely find themselves in violation of this basic principle.

During the time of this writing, the world was a different cultural place. The family dynamics were different than they are today. Paul was writing to a primarily Greek audience. These were Greeks who were being converted to Christianity.

Once they became Christians, they did not cease to be Greeks. And as a result, they brought many of their culturally influenced behaviors with them into their new lifestyle.

One of these behaviors was the tendency of fathers to rule with an iron fist. While most people know that children, especially sons need discipline from their father, the iron fist is not a good way to govern a household.

Some men have observed that this type of authoritarian leadership would amplify the already naturally rebellious nature of sons. this is why the command is specifically to fathers and gives specific instruction about how sons are to be taught, not daughters. Most female children are inherently more agreeable than male children. They are much more likely to obey, even mindlessly obey, the commands of a father. This would be especially true 2,000 years ago.

But sons are created to have a period of rebellion. This allows them to forge their own path and determine who they are. And more frighteningly, they will decide whether to keep or reject the various beliefs that have been instilled in them for their entire upbringing.

This natural period of rebellion is worsened by iron fist governing by fathers. Yet this is a behavior that you will still see in the church today.

Many fathers are so paranoid about losing control or losing their sons to the world that they overcompensate by attempting to control every facet of their son’s life. The sons experience no freedom, no ability to make any of their own decisions. This causes them to become angry. This resentment will build up over the years until they finally leave home and begin to make their own decisions.

Sometimes sons can become so resentful that they reject their faith and beliefs simply to spite their fathers. And the sad reality is that most fathers bring this on themselves.

By allowing no freedom, no exercise of autonomy or individual choice, they alienate their sons and push them to the extreme edge. This does not always happen, but it happens often enough to leave an impression on the mind.

The key then is to give your son enough freedom that he does not feel as though he is being suffocated by your control. He must be allowed to brush up against the guardrails of failure. Because at least when he fails, it will be because he made his own decisions. Of course, you do not want him to fail so badly that it damages his life and future, but he must be allowed to think for himself. Many parents spend all their time thinking for their kids and ar them surprised to find that their kids cannot think for themselves.

If you are a son with an overbearing father, be patient and do not allow resentment to build. You need to find an outlet. Train the body or war against something. Find a way to allow yourself to express the negative emotions in a controlled environment that will not cause you harm.

The observe fathers and sons around you who obey and violate this principle of Ephesians 6:4. Observe with a detached mind and take into consideration the consequences of each mode of thinking. The results may both frighten you and illuminate your mind. Use this as a chance to gain more knowledge about human nature. Through that knowledge, you can make better decisions in the future.

Every command of God has a rational root.

Every now and again you will see a video on the internet where an interviewer stops ordinary people on the street to ask them questions. Usually, it is something about current events or their political affiliation. But once and a while you may find one where the interviewer stops a person and asks them to recite some historical fact from the annals of ancient or American history. Inevitably the person – typically a youth – who is asked the question has no idea what the correct answer is.

Then that youth will be decimated in the comments section of the video or even in public discussion. 

“Kids today don’t know anything about history!” 

“This is why we are in trouble, kids don’t know XYZ facts about the Revolutionary War”

“The school system is garbage! If t was any good, kids would know this stuff.”

The list could go on ad infinitum. 

But each criticism misses the main point, a point we often miss in religion as well. Is it bothersome that young people are ignorant of history or the fact that ignorance of history will manifest in a lack of wisdom in decision making? A person who cannot recognize the cycles of history cannot be counted on to be an intelligent leader of men. 

Yet you rarely hear this explanation. Most people are angry at young kids simply because they do not know their history. That is where the criticism stops. The symptom of ignorance is treated with the severity of a disease. But memorizing dates and places was never the point of learning history. It is more than memorizing dates and times. The study of history is a study of human nature. It is a study of how we as creatures of habit continue to make the same set of cyclic decisions across time.

But this is never discussed in history class. Many, but not all,  history classes are taught by coaches whose main goal was to coach high school sports, but in order to do ao they must teach a class, so they choose history and inevitably teach it poorly. 

We are angered at the symptom (a lack of basic historical knowledge) rather than the disease itself (a fundamental lack of the understanding of human nature through the lens of the past). 

It, therefore, becomes less of a surprise that young people cannot be motivated to learn history without an understanding of that deeper purpose. If they knew they were learning about human nature, about how to earn more money or make better decisions, or to avoid poor decisions n the future, they might sing a different tune about the study of history. But, as is the main mode of motivation used by conservatives, they simply attempt to shame the youth into studying. 

As much as I am a fan of the proper application of shame to avert negative behavior, I do not believe it is the most efficient tool in motivating positive behaviors. Nor should it be the tool that is used exclusively when trying to promote positive behaviors and avoid negative ones. Mainly because many people no longer have a functional sense of shame as a whole. To use shame as the primary motivator is to ask a diesel engine to run on octane fuel. Individuals do not have the requisite desire to be a part of society or a moral social fabric that would make the tool of shame such an effective choice for motivating good behavior. Godlessness and chronic immorality damage the ability to sense shame (1 Timothy 4:2), therefore shame cannot be used to motivate good behavior. No one feels ashamed anymore in the godless society of the 21st century. 

Therefore it is critical that we understand the root reasons why we should behave in the specific manner outlined by God and small societies that follow God.

Just as it is important to communicate the true reasons for studying history, we must understand the foundational reasons why we should study the law and commands of God. But just like with history, we do not understand the root reason to learn God’s word. 

Think about many of the assorted commands of God. How often is it that you hear a well-articulated treatise on the rationality that rests under every law of God? It is quite rare. We hear the commands, which are undoubtedly important. But we hear them without understanding the “Why” behind those commands; a “why” which every single command of God possesses. God does not make arbitrary rules to reduce human enjoyment of life.

Every forbiddance is a guardrail to protect humanity from the negative consequences of that behavior. But commands are seldom taught that way in religion.

We teach the commands but nothing more. We teach about the importance of staying on one side of the guardrail rather than explaining how the guardrail exists to prevent us from falling off a ledge. And we can easily see how ineffective that tactic is based on public opinion of religion, church retention rates, and the self-professed lack of engagement many Christians feel towards religion. People need more than “Do not do XYZ just because”. If every command of God is a guardrail protecting us from suffering, then we must understand how violating God’s commands inevitably leads to suffering. Then we are better equipped to appreciate God’s effort to protect us from those consequences, rather than viewing His commands as arbitrary. 

As an example, think about the teachings on modesty. If you think about a sermon on modesty, what comes to your mind? Is it an understanding of how humans will behave relative to the way they are dressed (i.e. dress like a prostitute, act like a prostitute)? It is a deeper study on simple human biology? Do preachers dive deep into the chain reaction that results when people are not disciplined in what they wear?

No. Essentially all you hear is dogma and command with no rationality behind it. The command of modesty is a good one, but every teacher forgets the “why”. Many times this is because preachers are too scared to broach any topic related to sexuality from the pulpit. Many Christians are still pretending that sex does not exist and that babies magically generate in their women’s wombs. They do this to “protect their children”, of course. Though in reality, they are merely protecting themselves; attempting to preserve their perception of their child’s sense of innocence. 

Every command of God can be explained rationally, but it is easier for Christians to simply recite the command than to do the difficult work of thought required to mine out those rational reasons underlying each command. It is true that God gave commands and therefore we should follow them. But it is not true that we should simply blindly recite commands without looking to understand why exactly God instituted those regulations, to begin with. 

Every action has a result. Every sinful action has a result as well, and it is universally negative in the long term. The commands of God exist to protect humanity from the negative long-term effects of sin, despite their short-term benefits (benefits which religion will again pretend do not exist, further isolating subsequent generations of religious youth from the rigid discipline of the previous generations). That is the root of the law, and that is why the commands must be studied.

History must be studied to learn human nature and to be watchful for the ebbs and flows of humanity over time. Study history to become a better student of human nature, not to amass a collection of facts, dates, and places. 

Study the commands of God not only so you can recite and follow them correctly, but so you can also understand the deep and profound logic that rests as the foundation to every command of God.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.“

2 Timothy 2:17

I have heard this verse thrown around a great deal this past year. I think it is important to understand the context of what Paul was saying. In fact, it goes beyond thinking – I know it is important to examine the context in which passages are written. Otherwise, we run the risk of misapplying the verse to a situation where it is not related.

During the 2020 Pandemic, people threw around this verse talking about how we “shouldn’t have a spirit of fear“.

“We shouldn’t be afraid. God has not given us a spirit of fear”.

I agree with the sentiment but they are misapplying what Paul was saying in this verse.

When people were using this verse they were talking about being opposed to wearing masks. Saying that, “If God wants a virus to take me out, then a virus will take me out“. I was as opposed to mandated masks as much as anyone, even as a scientist, but that does not mean I throw caution to the wind thinking that “whatever God wants to kill me can just go right ahead and kill me“. That is the mentality of hyper-conservative people who think that every move of the left is an attempt to stamp out all freedom. While on the complete opposite side of the spectrum you have the “masks at all cost” people.

I do not like extremists when it comes to group beliefs. I like personal extremism and intensity, but when groups get together and concentrate this extreme energy into a mob, it is not good for anyone. Previously I wrote in two separate articles that beliefs radicalize when they place the belief itself above God. Groups radicalize when they do the same thing.

Related: Radical Liberalism.

Related: Radical Conservatism.

All of that is beside the point. No matter what side of the political or religious spectrum you fall under, applying 2 Timothy 2:17 willy-nilly is inappropriate.

A Bible professor once made the statement in a lecture, “When studying the Bible there are three important things. Context, context, and context. The immediate context of the verse, the immediate context of the book and who it was written to, and the context of the book in relation to the rest of the bible“.

We often do not like looking at the context because that means we have to do a little background research about the book, chapter, and verse we are studying. It means we cannot take our first impression of whatever the text is saying and believe it right off the bat. It is easier to do that because it liberates us from the work of thinking. But the consequence is that we frequently misunderstand the bible.

Therefore, the context of 2 Timothy is this: the book was written by Paul to Timothy who was at a church at the time. The central theme of the book is “Christians must endure hardships for the cause of Christ“.

Back in the first century, this meant literal persecution. So when Paul is telling Timothy and the church that “God has not given us a spirit of fear“, it was specifically related to Christian persecution.

While it would be incredibly easy to call a pandemic “persecution“, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Last I checked the government was not putting Christians to death. And the majority of the population still had access to food and water. At the risk of sounding flippant, there was not much real suffering on a global scale. Sure, there was death and starvation, but it was a small percentage of the world. Most people still had food, water, and shelter and never lost these things.

We did not have the degree of persecution that Paul or the first century Christians were dealing with. They were being tortured and killed for their beliefs. And Paul still needed to write to them and encourage them that God had not given them a spirit of fear.

So let’s understand the context of these verses. Yes, it is true that God has not given us a spirit of fear. But this verse specifically means that we should not be fearful regarding the hardships of Christianity. And I would not call a virus a hardship that faces Christianity.