Isn't it ultimately for the sake of the person himself? Perhaps to avoid hell, or to gain paradise, or because he's driven to serve a principle, such as the principle of Righteousness, or the principle of Truth?
Whatever the motivation, does it not boil down to a selfish, "#1 gets what he wants in the end" reason?
And that has bothered me. I should seek to be righteous for selfless reasons, not for selfish reasons. And yet, no matter how I turn it and look at it, the reasons boil down to "My Choice", which means I'm getting my way, which means ultimately, selfishness.
No matter how selfless my choices in this life, ultimately they're driven by a selfish hope of a valuable pay-off in the future.
And I don't want to be selfish.
But then I read a passage I've heard/read many times before, and realized, Jesus sacrificed himself for his own selfish reason. Here it is:
WEB Heb 10:2 looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.Jesus endured the cross because he saw a valuable pay-off in the future - "Joy".
If Jesus can be selfish in his motivation to do the right thing, I reckon I can be, too.
