What’s Your Motivation?
At the beginning of the school year, each teacher was given a print-out of Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy. We discussed how important it is to remember that if our students’ physical needs and security needs are not being met, it will be very difficult for them to be motivated at school. This is true and apparent especially this year, with all the hardships facing our students.
I remembered studying Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy in college, but this most recent observation sparked a new perspective for me. I took the print-out home and carefully pondered it for several days. I realized that Maslow’s Hierarchy reveals the motivations of our natural human heart, but when we become Christians, our motivations and needs hierarchy looks radically different.
The base of Maslow’s Hierarchy is Physical: (air, water, food, rest, health). Our nature is to seek these things before anything else. However, Christians are blessed with the confidence that God will provide and are instructed to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33).
The second level of Maslow’s Hierarchy is Security: (safety, shelter, and stability). As Christians, the security section of the hierarchy becomes much less important, because we find our security in Christ. God teaches us to rely on Him for our physical needs like shelter, food, rest, and health. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25). “These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.” (Matthew 6:32).
Maslow’s third level in the hierarchy is Social. Our social need for belonging and being loved is fully met as Christians. We understand how deeply loved we are by God and we find belonging within his family. Our own social need for belonging is met, and we begin to feel a burden to reach out to others with compassion and empathy. We begin to overflow with love for others. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7).
In Maslow’s hierarchy, Ego is one of the top priorities on the pyramid. Ego is the human desire for self-esteem, power, recognition, and prestige. Isn’t it ironic that one of the top priorities of our human nature is what holds us back from finding true peace and joy? When our goal is station, rank, and wealth we will never find our true purpose. “Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity” (John 12:25).
The ultimate goal of our human nature, according to Maslow’s Heiarchy, is Self-Actualization (the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potential). The premise is that we cannot find Self-Actualization until all the other stages of the pyramid are satisfied. Amazingly, Christians find self-actualization the moment we discover who we are in relation to God. It is actually the first step; the base of Christian motivation. We recognize our desperate need for a savior. We realize that we are nothing without the creator who designed us with unique talents and filled us with potential. We recognize that He is the one who makes us righteous. It is when we lay down our selfishness and put Him on the throne of our hearts that we find our purpose and can reach the full potential He created us for.
For a Christian, I believe a new level should be added at the top of the hierarchy: “God’s Glory”. This is becaue our ultimate motivation as Christians is to lay our crowns at His feet and to do everything for His glory. We work as unto the LORD, to bring honor, recognition, and glory to Him.
It is fascinating to me that Christian motivation is an almost exact reversal of human motivation. One can almost flip the Maslow pyramid on its head. But is it really surprising? “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God…” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
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