NOV.5, 2013
Good-Behavior
Rewards
Read: 2
Corinthians 5:1-11
We make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to [God]. —2 Corinthians 5:9
In
a children’s ministry in my church, we hand out cards to the kids when we
notice their good behavior. They collect the cards and receive prizes for the
good choices they’ve made. We are trying to reinforce good behavior rather than
focusing on bad behavior.
When
one leader handed a card to 11-year-old Tyree, he responded, “No, thanks. I
don’t need one; I want to behave well, and I don’t need a reward for that.” For
him, doing the right thing was its own reward. He definitely has good values
ingrained in him, and he wants to live them out—prize or not.
As
believers in Jesus, we will receive rewards one day. Second Corinthians 5:10
says that everyone will “receive the things done in the body, according to what
he has done, whether good or bad.” But to get a reward should not be our
motivation for right living. Neither is it to earn salvation. Living out of
love for God and pleasing Him should be our heart’s desire.
When
we love God, we make it our aim to please Him who first loved us (1 John 4:19)
and to serve Him with pure motives (Prov. 16:2; 1 Cor. 4:5). The best reward
will be to be with Him!
In all I think and say and do,
I long, O God, to honor You;
But may my highest motive be
To love the Christ who died for me. —D. DeHaan
Our desire to please God is our highest motive for obeying Him.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
