Driven by love

Payton Manning played quarterback for the University of Tennessee from 1994-1997. He selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the 1^st pick of the 1998 NFL draft. He played in the NFL for a total of 18 years; for the Colts from 1998-2011 and then finished his career playing for the Denver Broncos from 2012-2015. He was extremely successful setting 21 NFL records, including most passing yards (71,940) and passing Touchdowns (539), and winning 2 Super Bowls. Some argue he was the greatest QB to every play in the NFL while others say he was among the top 5 to every play the game at that position.

He retired at the end of the 2015 season at the age of 39. One of Manning’s well-known qualities was how much preparation he put into every game. He had a camera just on him in practice so he could see what he was doing wrong and the things he needed to fix. Some stated he was obsessed with perfection. In his emotional retirement speech, Manning said this:

“Pundits will speculate that my effort and drive over the past 18 years were about mastery and about working to master every aspect of the NFL game. Well, don’t believe them, because every moment, every drop of sweat, every blurrier eyed night of preparation, every note I took and every frame of film I watched was about one thing: reverence for this game.”

What drove Manning to become the best QB to ever play in the NFL? According to his own words, it was love for the game of football. He wanted to be the best he could at the game which he loved. Love for football caused him to fight hard to stay healthy to be able to play 18 years.

What drove Jesus to suffer through His life on earth and die the horrific death of a condemned Roman criminal on the cross? Why did he endure the Roman scouring? Jesus’ actions were driven by one thing: love for humanity.

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” 

Jesus was driven by love for us and our actions as a Christian should be driven by love for Him! In 2 Timothy 2:4 Paul compares the Christian walk with an enlisted soldier seeking to please the one who enlisted Him. We must be driven by love in our work for the Lord. Jesus tell us our obedience to Him shows our love.

John 14:15: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 14:21: “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me…”

John 14:23: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…”

Are our actions for the kingdom of God driven by a deep love for our Lord to be the best Christians we can be?

View Full Content Source:
http://springwarrior.com/resources/articles/2017/08/11/driven-by-love