Me Thinks

I have thinking about why I do the things I do. What is my motivation? What propels me?

Is it to please others and look good? Is it because I feel a duty and responsibility? Or maybe I fear God and I don't want to be punished. Do I feel like because I obey some commandments that certain rewards will be granted? Am I in some type of bartering or transactional relationship? Does the reward(s) that God promises motivate me? Or is it something else?

James Skeen said: "Instead of viewing obedience as a means to an end, it becomes an expression of love and appreciation." (Nothing More to Give: From Transactional Obedience to Transformational Relationships, pg. 100)

Can love for my Savior and my Heavenly Father be the exclusive motivation for living the gospel and serving others?

I want the love and gratitude I feel for the Savior and Heavenly Father to be my motivation. I have relationships with Them, and those relationships are precious to me.

The relationships and the love are paramount, but I think there is something else, and it is hard to put in to words. In the process of striving to be obedient, repentant, and fully converted, I am being polished and refined.  I am changing and growing, and there is satisfaction and joy in the process.