Really sit and question your hearts and tell me, do you say you believe God for selfish motives, to get a spot in heaven? What if there was no heaven and no hell, no reward system and God still asked you to obey Him. Would you??
Love is a purely selfless act, so do you love God with all abandonment to yourselves? This is the Love God commands of us. Luckily, He's a God of mercy and justice and has a place stored for us in heaven, but if THAT is your only motive for your obedience, think again.
Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
2007-07-13 06:02:53 · 8 answers · asked by FunkyC 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
First off I love you question and I think it opens some brutally honest inner reflection. As for not selfishly believing I do not believe I am going to Heaven, I have committed way to much sin in my life more than many of you reading this will ever commit. Even though I have changed my ways and accepted Christ I feel I am condemned to Hell no matter how much I repent. So how could it be for selfish reasons I believe. I consider myself a Christian and I love God not for selfish reasons but because for some unexplainable reason I do have love for God. I know that may be hard to understand for some it is for me as well. But I still love God. To me it is no different than loving a father who has to punish you for doing wrong, you still love your father even if you do not like your punishment. Great question and thank you for posting it.
2007-07-13 06:12:07 · answer #1 · answered by Jason J 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There's nothing wrong with wanting to go to Heaven and avoid Hell. It's usually wrong to be selfish, but in the case of wanting to go to Heaven, it's a "good" kind of selfish.
God doesn't want to lose us to Satan. So if we long for Heaven -- even for selfish reasons -- and succeed in avoiding Satan, we have served God. We have done His will, because His will is for us to accept Him and to be with Him and avoid Satan.
Believing in God because we want to go to Heaven and avoid Hell is sufficient, but it is not the ideal. As you pointed out, the ideal would be to love God with all abandonment of ourselves.
Of course, there are those who don't believe in God for any reason -- either out of abandonment of self, or out of desire to get to Heaven. Those are the poor people we should really be worried about.
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2007-07-13 13:13:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
When it comes down to people doing gods will its god that does the doing, and its people allowing god to work through them.
We should be thankful to god for his mercy,
and set our personal gains and gods will
in two separate baskets and keep god sacred because eternal gain is the only real treasure.
2007-07-13 13:23:30 · answer #3 · answered by PENMAN 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's right... those who DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER. People think that they can just repent and they're forever saved but that's not the case clearly stated in this scripture. If you are truely following Jesus, it will show up in your works. Just like if you're truely an apple tree won't you bear apples? I can sit here and say I'm an apple tree but if I bear oranges, doesn't that make me a liar and in denial?
2007-07-13 13:10:19 · answer #4 · answered by Y!A P0int5 Wh0r3 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God Bless you for your question...
I believe in God not for the reward, but for the act. That He sacrificed Himself on the cross for my sin, and the sins of all who simply believe, makes Him worthy of praise and adoration. That He first loved us...that He cares for us more than all of creation...
I have already quit one job so that I could devote more time to service for Him.. If He calls me again, I will quit the one I have now. Yes, I will serve Him always...As Job said "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him"
2007-07-13 13:10:28 · answer #5 · answered by Todd J 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I believe in God because He has done soooooooo much in my life! My motivation comes out of love and the desire to want to please Him. My sole purpose in life is to further His kingdom.
2007-07-13 13:19:07 · answer #6 · answered by Kori spelled backwards is Irok 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The only true love is YHVH's love, which He offers to share with us. (Let this mind be in you which was in the Messiah). My only choice is to choose. If I choose to have faith, He gives me faith, and through faith His Grace, His gift, which includes all things, including obedience to all of His commandments.
2007-07-13 13:14:26 · answer #7 · answered by hasse_john 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i really appreciate this statement that you made...i am so tired of preachers preaching about "our eternal reward" and "what is your purpose" i think we should be focus more on HIS purpose and advancing HIS kingdom, not our own kingdoms.......
2007-07-13 13:13:18 · answer #8 · answered by drinklifetothelees 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋