Why Do You Do It? {Memorize Philippians 1:16-17}

But Why?

You say you’re a Christian.

You go to church. You pray before meals. You might even say the name of Jesus out loud now and again.

But why do you do it?

Memorize This Week

16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
Philippians 1:16-17

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Unclean Motives

The apostle Paul was doing a motive check.

He was in prison for spreading Christ’s message of grace and love and Lordship. He had seen Jesus. He believed what he was preaching. He knew it to be true.

But other people? Not so much. Some were just being copycats. They saw Paul doing it, and they were competitive. They saw him as a rival so they began preaching it, too.

Yet others’ motives were clean. They, too, had met love. And from that foundation, they were spreading the news.

Check YOUR Motives

Why do we do it?

• Are we followers because our parents were?
• Is it because Christianity is the socially-acceptable religion among our circle of friends?
• Are we hoping to trade up for more blessings from God?

Let’s do a motive check on ourselves this week. Let’s ask ourselves why we do what we do, why we believe what we say we believe.

Then once we find our answers, let’s embrace God’s grace anew. His grace is big enough to purify our intentions and give us a fresh start.