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!
–Anne Cetas
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
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1-11
Our desire to please God is our highest motive for obeying Him.