In answering a question about the motivation for obeying the Lord, Tim Keller said, “In the long run, you should always do the right thing out of love for God out of joy for God. But in the short run, very often you should use any means possible to do the right thing, which means tell yourself, I’ll probably go to jail if I do that. God will be mad at me (which He will be, by the way, if you do that). Even inside being a Christian, you’re beautiful in Him and in Him there is no condemnation, He is still angry at his children, I think, who He loves, when they do something wrong. In the long run, beauty is your motivation. But in the short run, do it because it’s your duty to do the right thing.
There may be times when we have to “fake it till we make it” in obeying God’s commandments. Because Christ has interceded for us before the Father, we can trust that we may strive towards obedience, no longer afraid of the penalty for falling short.
Source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/tim-keller-on-beauty-and-duty-in-obeying-god/
