Last week, Moyo shared with us 15 very important lessons life had taught her. This week, she address the motives behind our actions. Be blessed as you read on!
This post is to help examine the reasoning behind certain actions. I was having a conversation with someone the other day when they said something along the lines of ‘I helped him then and he doesn’t seem to bother helping me now’. What struck me was the fact that they were bitter about it. This made me think about my motive when helping others. Do I help others mainly so they can help me when I’m in need? Do I help others because God has blessed me and I desire to be a blessing to others or do I help others because it is more blessed to give than to receive? We are all humans and its only fair to think that if you help someone, they should be able to help you in a time of need when they have the capacity to do so. It does become dangerous however, when we start to hold a grudge against them if they choose not to help us.
Motive does not relate only to helping others. It also relates to many other areas. What’s your motive for getting to work really early and leaving pretty late? – Is it an act of presenteeism or is it to ensure that you do your best to move the business forward and develop your skills in the process? Is that outfit to oppress or impress others or is it to make you look beautiful and feel confident? Is your singing in the choir to give glory to God or to show off your beautiful voice? Are you up to date with the latest movies and series just so you can be relevant in the conversations about them when you catch up with friends, especially if you’d rather be doing something more productive? Are you taking part in the IcebucketChallenge just for fun or are you also going to donate to charity and keep the ALS patients in your prayers?
We need to constantly check the reasoning behind our actions to ensure we are doing things not for the sake of pleasing others, what we can get in return, fitting in with the norms of society but ensure our motives are for empowering ourselves and others and also for making a positive impact wherever we go.
Beinspired,
Moyo
xx
Integr8.Africa 