Christian motivation

A New Inner Relish by Dane Ortlund is a book that investigates Christian motivation in the thought of Puritan Jonathan Edwards.

From A New Inner Relish by Dane Ortlund:

We will look at Christian motivation from the three perspectives of past, present and future. Simply put, the past motivation is that of gratitude, the present is that of identity, the future is that of benefit. (23)

Ortlund recognizes and explores 3 perspectives on motivation. The motivation relating to the past considers what God has done and is motivated through gratefulness. The motivation corresponding with the present is one based on our identity; we are motivated because we realize we are children of God. Thirdly, the future benefit of the glorification of our bodies and eternal life also motivate us. However, despite these perspectives legitimacy, Ortlund declares them as secondary motivations that are subject to the primary motivation in the Christian life: a divinely-bestowed inner relish.

Each of these motivations, then – past, present and future – provides spiritual potency in daily Christian living. Yet my aim in this book is to hear with you Jonathan Edwards' supremely relevant message that while all three are legitimate and even crucial encouragements towards obedience, Christian motivation is fundamentally achieved by a divinely-bestowed taste ... the believer is moved to obey God not essentially by any logical reasoning (such as the three mentioned thus far) but by an immediate sense of and inclination toward God. While the motivations mentioned above may be used as kindling for obedience, they cannot in themselves provide the spark. Christian motivation is, at the bottom, the granting of a new inner relish. (34-35)