Weekly Thought – June 2, 2026
Fred believed in discipline. Those four words are a powerful understatement to those who knew him. He lived his life considering and paying the price to make a contribution and to steward his uniqueness. He didn’t believe in “happy talk” which fooled people into believing accomplishment came without work. The wish ethic took a total backseat to the work ethic. He believed in motivating himself to “love and good deeds.”
Urged and Spurred
As humans on earth we are motivated and gravitated. The weight we can lift is the amount we can overcome, whether it is the press of gravity or the pressure of negative circumstances. Unfortunately, we sometimes underestimate the power of both and assume we are weightless. Mythological creatures crashed to earth when attempting to fly and human beings fall flat when they neglect to assess the need to overcome.
When the positive motivation for accomplishment is let go, the negative motivation for immobility takes over. This is why we cannot stand still.
It is important to measure our motivations. Here are three pegs for our thinking on this subject:
1) How do I define enjoyable activity? Have you ever attended a function and noticed some who were clearly miserable? They felt obligated to be there, but didn’t enjoy a minute of it. Positive motivation must be healthily enjoyable. As individuals, we have the right, even the responsibility, to decide what we healthily enjoy and avoid the unhealthy.
2) What am I doing that matters? So much of what we do makes such a little difference and it drains our energy and spends our time. I decided a long time ago to invest my time, not just spend it. What I mean is this: I invest my time in the people who are closest to me, the causes that are most important, those things that use my unique talents, and those efforts that accomplish meaningful contributions in the lives of others.
3) How am I implementing the needful? For example, I believe it is needful to do something every day that I don’t want to do, simply to continue developing my willpower. The will is a muscle. It may be our most important one and it must be exercised to be ready when called upon. Will power becomes flabby in a hurry. It cannot be made permanently strong. Another need is to take time with people from whom you get absolutely nothing but with whom you need to be human. Ridding ourselves of negative emotions is needful. The farmer must chop the weeds not just because he dislikes weeds, but because they use resources in the soil necessary for profitable crops.
This week think about: 1) How motivated am I? 2) What matters most to me? 3) Where am I most disciplined? Least?
Words of Wisdom: “One of the secrets of self-motivation is realizing when something doesn’t satisfy, more of it still won’t satisfy.”
Wisdom from the Word: “Finally then, brothers and sisters we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us about how you must live and please God (as you are in fact living) that you do so more and more.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1 NET Bible)