Sermon Quotes on Motivation

Augustine of Hippo

It is not the being seen of men that is wrong, but doing these things for the purpose of being seen of men. The problem with the hypocrite is his motivation. He does not want to be holy; he only wants to seem to be holy. He is more concerned with his reputation for righteousness than about actually becoming righteous. The approbation of men matters more to him than the approval of God.

E.M. Bounds

Trouble and prayer are closely related. Trouble often drives men to God in prayer, while prayer is but the voice of men in trouble.

Winston Churchill (attributed)

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

(Though often credited to Churchill, but (humorously) actually comes from a 1939 Budweiser advertisement.)

Jim Cymbala

Prayer cannot truly be taught by principles and seminars and symposiums. It has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need. If I say, “I ought to pray,” I will soon run out of motivation and quit; the flesh is too strong. I have to be driven to pray.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work, rather teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean.

Viktor E. Frankl

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

Man’s Search for Meaning

Benjamin Franklin

Well done is better than well said.

Timothy Keller

If you wait until your motives are pure and unselfish before you do something, you will wait forever.

Daniel H. Pink

Money can extinguish intrinsic motivation, diminish performance, crush creativity, encourage unethical behavior, foster short-term thinking, and become addictive.

Rick Warren

God’s mercy to us is the motivation for showing mercy to others. Remember, you will never be asked to forgive someone else more than God has forgiven you.

Michael Youssef

We do not fool Him by saying we want something for His glory when secretly our motivations are selfish. We do not fool Him by saying we believe He can work miracles when inwardly we doubt He will follow through.

Zig Ziglar

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.

Arthur C. Clarke

Never attribute to malevolence what is merely due to incompetence.

T.S. Eliot

The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

Daniel H. Pink

Goals that people set for themselves and that are devoted to attaining mastery are usually healthy. But goals imposed by others—sales targets, quarterly returns, standardized test scores, and so on—can sometimes have dangerous side effects.

Drive, Penguin Publishing Group.

Source Unknown

People have two reasons for doing anything—a good reason and the real reason.