Am I Motivated By Duty or Relationship?

For many people, growing up around church or religion can be something of a double edge sword, to borrow a phrase from the Biblical lexicon.

On one hand, assuming you had a good experience, you were likely instilled with strong values, a sense of responsibility for your family and community, and hopefully, a positive view of God and a feeling that he exists.

On the other hand, it can be really hard to tell if all the good Christian stuff you’re doing is actually what you believe and want, or merely what you’ve learned to embody over your years sitting in the pews.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self- control. Against such things there is no law. [24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25] Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-25 NIV

In this episode, Russ Ewell and guests David Traver, Cameron Straw and Parker Allen continue the discussion started last week (check out Coming Home, Part One if you haven’t already). They discuss the subtle differences between action that is motivated by religious duty, and deeds that are driven by an unique and intimate relationship with God.

As Galatians 5:22-25 describes, there are qualities that begin to exude from us when we are in step with God and the Holy Spirit, and they are not manufactured; the closer you get to God, the more loving a person you become.