Deep Digging Into My Heart With "So That"

Digging deeply into ourselves is really healthy, even though it's often uncomfortable.

One of the ways I do that is to keep asking myself the "so that?" question. The more I dig into the purpose behind my actions, the deeper I end up into the gears and clockwork of my own motivations.

When someone works, there's pretty much always a goal in mind. When I am doing my personal work, I am doing it so that something will happen.

So that what will happen, though? That's the important question.

For my writing, I am working so that people's hearts will be changed.

So that?

And that's where I've found my motivation wavering. One day, it's so that I can be important and influence the world. The next day, after God gets a hold of me, it's so that people won't have to live in bondage.

Do you see the difference? One is covertly focused on me. The the other is, at its deepest level, focused completely on other people. I've found that if I dig deep enough, I will find one of these two things to be true about each of my meaningful actions. Even the off-hand things I decide to say to people are influenced by these deep motivators.

This is the level of deeper motivation, just below the grid of our daily conscious thought. This is what I strive to uncover in my digging. There are really, really important things to figure out about myself from uncovering the deepest motivations of my heart, like what I'm the most scared of, and even what kinds of things I'm most longing for at my core.

When I'm longing for one of these deep things out of Fear, I'm longing from a place that God hasn't cured yet. His touch casts out Fear and replaces it with the core motivator of Love. Love is a place that feels secure. We have to be secure in order to Love with our whole hearts, to give our whole self away like God designed us to.

Is your deep self currently motivated out of Fear or Love? Be careful, because it can change quickly and without you recognizing that it has changed.

My dad likes to say "pay close attention to what's going on inside you." I think that's really good advice, and I try to remember it.

Keep close inventory of your "so thats."