152. Overcoming a Lack of Motivation

Why is it so hard to motivate ourselves to do what we know we are supposed to do? Especially when we don’t feel like it?  Lack of motivation….complacency…it’s all the same thing. 

Complacency is a weapon the enemy is using to get us to give up and not even try. When we live in a culture that is so based on our feelings, we don’t realize how much we are allowing our feelings to control our lives until we take a step back and look at it. When we don’t feel like doing that thing, we don’t do it. If we keep this mentatlity up, we will waste our lives and never truly find the purpose God called us to live out.

Yes, God gave us feelings. Feelings are meant to be felt. Feelings are meant to help us feel compassion and love toward others, but feelings were never meant to be what makes our decisions for us. 

However, if we’re not careful, we use our feelings to make excuses for us to do what we want to do or not to what we don’t want to do. 


Benjamin E Mays, a pastor who actually mentored Martin Luther King Jr said is so wisely. He said, “The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities."

Complacency or lack of motivation is one of the biggest enemies to Christians and if I can be honest, when I look at a lot of the Christian teens today, this is the number one enemy I see invading their lives. 

Complacency isn’t just not doing anything, though, complacency or a lack of motivation also occurs when we do the same thing over and over again and get into a “check it off the list” mentality. 

How do we move from complacency or a lack of motivation to pushing past those feelings? Honestly, it starts with discovering you do have a purpose, right now, as a teen! There’s a quote that says, “motivation is found when purpose is discovered” and it is so true! 

How do we overcome a lack of motivation? How do we overcome complacency?

1.  It starts with understanding how much God loves you!
2. Develop a real, living relationship with Jesus instead of just checking God off a list.
3. Do your first 15 (spending the first 15 minutes of your day with God)
   • Spend 5 minutes in the Word
   • 5 minutes in prayer
   • 5 minutes in worship.
4. Serve others.
5. Share Jesus with those around you!
6. Discipleship, mentorship and coaching!

Ladies, let’s not make anymore excuses, but let’s get out there and live our life with purpose! Just like that quote I shared earlier, “Motivation is found when purpose is discovered.”

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