The Love Motive

Motive, noun, 1. a reason for doing something, especially one that is hidden or not obvious.
Trust, noun, 1. the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Whoever puts his trust in God’s Son will not be lost but will have life that lasts forever. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to say it is guilty. He sent His Son so the world might be saved from the punishment of sin by Him. 18 Whoever puts his trust in His Son is not guilty. Whoever does not put his trust in Him is guilty already. It is because he does not put his trust in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:16-18 NLV

Have you ever had someone doubt your motives?  I have, and when they doubt you it hurts.  Today I was reading Chapter three in John and something stood out to me that I had never pondered before in verse 17, "For God did not send His Son into the world to say it is guilty.  He sent His Son so the world might be saved from the punishment of sin by Him."  Wow this stood out to me today!  How often do we doubt the motives of God?  I see the world doubting the motives of God everyday, everywhere.  Just take a look!   Who do we question first when times get hard?  When tragedy strikes what do you read on social media?  "How can a loving God do this?"  or "God, why did you do this to me?"   Now we have gone from doubting his motive to blaming him in that one simple question.  I cannot even imagine how much that hurts Jesus.  It literally is spitting on his sacrifice.  He gave his life for us out of the motive of love.  Not only did he give his life, but he was tortured before being executed.  You see, it wasn't the big spikes that held Jesus to the cross, it was his love for us that held him to the cross.  He was providing salvation for us, a way of escape from our sins, from our death sentence.  Before he was arrested he was praying and asking God if there was any other way because what he was about to do wasn't going to be easy.  He had to think about his mother, Mary.  The hurt she would experience when having to watch her son be beaten, his skin torn to shreds only to be nailed to the cross and watching them mock him only to see him take his final breath.  It makes me cry just to think of what hell she went through that day and the following three days.  Jesus did all of that for the world just so that we would have the choice to choose life.  We have been given the gift of free will to choose to accept or reject Christ!  Yet how many of us choose to doubt his motives?   The choice is ours to choose to trust him or choose to not believe, to doubt him.  But let me reassure you that his motive, to face abuse and torture to only die, is love.  He loves you so very much.  He wants you to choose to believe, to trust him, and his motive of love.

Trusting and Choosing Him,

Shanin

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