Motivation.
Living well in a different place requires
sacrifice. Nothing necessarily monumental, but it means being the one who takes
the first step. That doesn’t come naturally to me… it doesn’t come naturally to
most people. Where does the motivation to do this come from? Where should it
come from? Since being here I’ve found it difficult to step into friendships
with Ugandans. I didn’t want to make the sacrifice that is required for
‘cross-cultural’ friendship because my only motivation was my own satisfaction.
I wanted to leave here knowing I had friends here… but I didn’t want much more.
I think that motivation is changing. A few of the on-campus American students
have decided to read through Thessalonians over the course of our time here and
yesterday as we were reading the first chapter this verse stuck out to me:
“We remember before
our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love,
and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians
1:3).
work produced by faith
labor prompted by love
endurance inspired by hope
I must put my own desires on the shelf and
seek faith, love, and hope, that out of these things friendships are made and
bridges built. My selfishness will not get me where I want to go… and it isn’t helping
anybody else out either.
Wow. I've never realized the impact of that verse before. I feel like I've never even heard it before. There's a lot of wisdom and guidance there. Thanks I needed that.
ReplyDelete