Motivated by Love

“Without the pure motive of love, I would gain nothing of value.” (1 Corinthians 13:3 TPT)

Etty Hillseum was an author who wrote about the persecution of Jewish people. She went through a religious awakening during the Holocaust. She and her family were killed while imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp. In her diaries, Etty describes how beauty and horror coexist in humanity. She sensed God within and nurtured this interior life, searching for meaning and motivation from her core.

“Oh, Lord, let me feel at one with myself. Let me perform a thousand daily tasks with love, but let every one spring from a greater central core of devotion and love. Then it won’t really matter what I do and where I am.” (Etty Hillseum) 

The above quote affected me profoundly. For days, I examined the central core of my motives. Why do I think, feel, and behave the way I do? What is the driving force behind everything? I wish I could honestly say it is  love...but I suspect it is not. If I perform a thousand daily tasks, but they are not motivated by love--are any of them worthy? Does it really matter what I do and how far I’ve come in life if love is not at the central core?