15 CHAPTER 4 MOTIVATION In the first article I pointed out how the Holy Spirit is leading us to perfect love. In. order to commit ourselves to a vision of this kind we need to be very strongly motivated. Our motivation will have to be kept alive at every stage of the journey. We are motivated by values. We spoke in the last article about internalizing the values of Jesus and above all internalizing the supreme value of loving God. Values will not motivate us unless they are internalized. If we have internalized moral values due to our formation and the practice of virtue we will tend to act morally. If, with the help of the Holy Spirit, pleasing God has become our supreme value, it will govern our whole inner and outer life. It will urge us to be vigilant over our desires and choices so as to please God. It will stimulate us to practice the moral virtues so as to please God. It will govern how we use our time, our money and other resources. We will want to follow Paul’s advice – "let all things be done in love". In a word if the desire to please God takes a deep hold of us it will revolutionize our whole life. To provide ongoing motivation for the practice of love we need to keep on practicing it, reading about it, meditating, perhaps writing about it and above all learning about it in prayer. Since the Holy Spirit pours love into our hearts he is the one who will give us the desire to please God. He will urge us on to seek God’s will at all times and to implement it so as to please him. If our whole life is ordered solely to love God and everything else for his sake the motivation to practice love will be kept alive by the Holy Spirit. We can never doubt his love for us. We will now examine in more detail motives and desires
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 22:19:19 +0000
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