What Drives You?

All of us have something and/or someone that drives us. Something or someone that motivates us to do what we do. This motivation could be a passion, a loved one, or even rent money. Let’s be honest, often what drives us is selfishness. I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who has washed the dishes just to get praise from my husband, worked overtime to buy myself new clothes, or done something nice for someone just so they would tell me how nice I am. Selfishness is a great motivator. Maybe I shouldn’t say great. That could be easily misinterpreted. More appropriately I should say that selfishness is a highly effective motivator. So many things that we do, if we are honest with ourselves, are out of selfishness. People have lied, cheated, stole, and murdered from the driving force of selfishness.

Guilt is another common one. Although I have come to the realization that guilt is a very short term motivator. What are some others? There’s love. People will go to the ends of the Earth for love. This is a strong one, if not the strongest. Something must drive us or we completely break down. For lack of a better analogy, allow me to compare people to cars. We naturally want to live our lives as physical beings with a soul. We like to separate the physical things from the spiritual. I suggest that this is impossible (click here for more on this). C.S. Lewis said, “You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” We often think of doing or adding spiritual things to our life like the maintenance on a car. Oil changes, tune-ups, tire rotations. Sometimes we even think of these things as upgrades; a new paint job, seat covers, iPod ports, maybe even some flashy rims.

We often see God as a sort of triple A. Someone to call in emergency. God is not the jumper cables; He does not just hook up to you, jump start you, then detach from you so that you may be on your way, He is the fuel. Every car has an empty compartment where the fuel is meant to go. Before the fuel ever entered the car, it was set up for it. The car was fashioned under the premise that fuel would be needed in order for it to run properly. It’s been said that we all have a God-shaped hole in our heart. Without these driving forces, the car, like we, are just an empty shell. It may even look incredible, provide comfort, shelter, and even joy, but it cannot go where it has potential to go. Only this fuel never runs out. God does not want to be your side-of-the-road assistance when you’ve broken down, but flowing through you. What’s driving your life? Is it worthy? Psalm 136:26 John 3:16

-Krystal is a blogger for The Daily Vine. Check out her bio to see where her view comes from.