Skip to content
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
JFH Blog

JFH Blog

Where the JFH Staff and Guests Speak Their Minds

  • Home
  • Music Reviews
  • Artists DB
  • Indies
  • Interviews
  • Lyrics
  • Ministry
  • Movies
  • JFH Podcast
  • Videos
  • Features
  • Extras
 
  • Home
  • 2009
  • February
  • “Going Through The Motions” by Matthew West
  • Guest Writers

“Going Through The Motions” by Matthew West

On February 20, 2009February 8, 2021
JFH

I don’t always feel it.  Sometimes my faith seems stale.  Numb.  Sometimes I pray but I don’t feel connected.  I sing, but my song sounds empty.  I write, but my words sound cliché.  I ask God questions, but I don’t hear answers.  I could try and act like I am always so spiritually refreshed, and thriving in my relationship with God.  But that wouldn’t be honest.  That wouldn’t be me.

 Does your faith journey ever have these desert seasons?  I think one of the greatest challenges in actively living out a relationship with Christ on earth is to avoid the trap of simply going through the motions.  I grew up in a Christian home.  My dad is a preacher.  And over the years, I’ve mastered the art of learning what “Christian” should say to make everyone thing I’ve got it all figured out.  I know how to act.  I know how to put up a spiritual front, even if I’m not passionately seeking God, and make everyone around me think I’m doing alright.

That’s why I wrote the song, “The Motions.”  I was frustrated and tired of that constantly settling for a stale faith.  God is a God of passion.  His true plan for our lives is anything but boring.  “For I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full! (John 10:10, emphasis mine.) Every day, The God of adventure beckons his sons and daughters to quit going through the motions, and walk into a life filled with passion and wonder.  The last line of the chorus strikes me every time I sing it.

I DON’T WANNA SPEND MY WHOLE LIFE ASKING

WHAT IF I HAD GIVEN EVERYTHING

INSTEAD OF GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS

Those words are hard for me to hear sometimes.  I find it so ironic that I now have to face those words every night when I sing them on stage or when “The Motions” plays on the radio.  Coincidence?  I think not.  I believe God new I needed a daily reminder of this haunting question.  A not-so-gentle nudge saying, “don’t hold anything back, give it all, everything you have.”  Some days, my actions are as though my answer to that call is, “No thanks, I think I’m just going to keep this here area of my life to myself.  But God, you can have this and, um, this…” Then I hear another call, “Take up your cross and follow me (Matt 16:24) This invitation from a Savior is a daily one.  This is the only way to finding life to the fullest: Hold nothing back from the One who gave you everything.

Maybe you are stuck in a rut right now, that you know you need to break out of.  A relationship that you know isn’t what God wants for you.  A bad habit that you keep meaning to break.  An addiction that won’t let go.  Maybe you’re not the dad you know you could be to your kids, or the spouse you know you should be to your husband or wife.  Well, can you hear it?  The question lingers, “What if YOU had given everything instead of going through the motions?”  Life is short.  But God’s plan for your life is bigger than you can imagine.  Give everything to Him today, hold nothing back, and kiss the motions goodbye.

~ Matthew West

In Guest WritersIn Matthew West , Something to Say , Song Story , The Motions

Post navigation

We Recommend: Audio Adrenaline, “LIFT”
We Recommend: Staple, “Of Truth and Reconciliation”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • As Six Million Refugees Flee Ukraine, a Rwandan Refugee Who Survived Genocide Highlights the Plight of Refugees Coming to America—and a Plea for Action
  • Big Idea Content Group Releases The VeggieTales Podcast: Very Veggie Silly Stories Season 1 Now Available
  • Doorways & Tombstones – Behind the Song by Jonathan Allen Wright
  • “Hiraeth” by Clare Bell
  • 25 of John DiBiase’s Favorite Songs of All Time

Categories

  • Guest Writers (300)
    • Interviews (12)
    • Tour Blogs (105)
  • JFH Staff (421)
    • 10 Years Later (22)
    • 15 Years Later (1)
    • 20 Years Later (15)
    • 25 Years Later (5)
    • We Recommend (111)
  • Little Jesus Freaks (184)
    • LJF News (4)
    • Parenting (123)
    • Recipes (55)
    • Reviews (1)

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Sophie Keye on “The Importance of Wrestling with God in Christian Music” by Sophie Keye
  • codybecth on “The Importance of Wrestling with God in Christian Music” by Sophie Keye
  • Paul Linkins on 25 of John DiBiase’s Favorite Songs of All Time
  • Lisa B. on Doorways & Tombstones – Behind the Song by Jonathan Allen Wright
  • Amanda on Doorways & Tombstones – Behind the Song by Jonathan Allen Wright

You May Also Like

  • Guest Writers
  • Tour Blogs
JFH
On December 6, 2010January 27, 2021

“12 Days Of Christmas Tour Day 4” by The Great Transparency

  • Guest Writers
  • Tour Blogs
JFH
On March 29, 2010February 3, 2021

“Arrogance” by Me In Motion

  • Guest Writers
  • Tour Blogs
JFH
On October 18, 2010January 27, 2021

“Rebuild Your Love Tour Day 8” by The Great Transparency

  • Guest Writers
JFH
On August 16, 2008February 11, 2021

“Most Dreams Die a Slow Death” by Chris Taylor

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Copyright JesusfreakHideout.com All Rights Reserved 1996-2021 | Theme: Telegram by Themeinwp