What's Your Motivation?

On the 12th of this month, I got engaged to the most amazing girl I've ever met. I learned that being engaged is a wonderful feeling, a very exciting feeling. It's one of many things I've learned over the past few weeks. What I want to share with you today is a lesson I learned in my management class this summer. I took this class over the summer so I could graduate in December from the University of Oklahoma. I completed the class a few weeks ago, and just made the gospel connection this week. A mini-lesson within the bigger lesson: One reason we search for knowledge is because the Lord can always pull from that knowledge to teach you. The more you learn, the more the Lord has to draw from and connect to gospel principles. There really are patterns in all things, so the more you learn about the world around you, the more you can learn about the gospel! Now for the main lesson-

In my management class, I had the opportunity to learn about the ethics based Kohlberg Theories. These theories explain Kohlberg's view on moral development, and what motivates people to be ethical, to live according to a value system. Kohlberg says that there are three levels of motivation that people fit into.

1) Pre-Conventional- This level describes those who follow the rules in order to avoid punishment. They know what the standards are, and that if they aren't followed, there could be unpleasant consequences. This is their motivation for living by a code of ethics.

2) Conventional- This is a step up from living standards out of fear, but not quite at the level of being motivated from within. Conventional people are those who live to fulfill expectations of others. They understand that rewards are in place if they can live up to those expectations.

3) Post-Conventional- These people are internally motivated. They have their own standards and values, regardless of what happens around them. They don't have to be compelled to act because the standard is who they are.

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." When I think of the phrase, "weary in well-doing", I think of pre-conventional or conventional levels. If we have a quota we feel like we need to meet each day, or a point at which we feel we've done our fair share of good, we need to look inside and assess what motivates us. Our goal should be to get to a point where doing good is our nature, and it's our heart's desire to do good. It has to come from inside, not from fear or to get blessings. So what motivates you?