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these intrinsic proper�es from a viewpoint that Parallels of Biblical Story of Crea�on with Key
certain needs were designed into us at the very
crea�on of humanity and that the pursuit of these
needs drive all human behavior.
Summary of Core Concepts
In summary, we can see then even with this limited
view, mo�va�on is an extremely complex topic with
many aspects, nuances, and overlaps. There is a fo-
cus we can narrow in on from a psychological well-
being perspec�ve. This focus can include the fin-
dings discussed above that intrinsic mo�va�on
seems to result in a greater sense of well-being
than purely extrinsic mo�va�ons. The concept of
virtuous mo�va�ons (eudaimonic) is also a more
effec�ve mo�va�on than is the pursuit of pleasure/
avoid pain (hedonic) approach in achieving what
has been called well-being and what the Bible calls
flourishing (Psalm 92:12-13; Proverbs 14:11).
Secondarily, we can postulate that intrinsic mo�va-
�on seems to be universal, if you will, as a func�on
of who and what we are as human beings. The
source of this intrinsic mo�va�on is elusive and has
served as the source of philosophical musing.
Finally, based on the work of Deci and Ryan that we
have discussed above, we can categorize 3 key ele-
ments in intrinsic mo�va�on that are key to any
sense of general fulfillment. These three are: auto-
nomy, competence, and relatedness. It is important
to understand that autonomy is not a sense of total
self-direc�on, but a sense of choice in the direc�on
one heads. Similarly, competence is not the accom-
plishment of perfec�on in performance, but a clear
sense of the ability to move toward a goal. Related-
ness can be simply characterized as the connec�on
to others in ways that are not simply physical. This
relatedness involves shared goals, commonality of
worldview, and a sense of common beliefs.
In the following we will seek to develop the idea
that our intrinsic mo�va�ons are, in fact, built into as we are made in His image. We seek to find and
us by our Creator at the point of the very crea�on
of humankind We will look at the Biblical story of
crea�on for clues as to what these mo�va�ons are
and how God intended them to func�on in us. It is
our hope that this brings us to a be�er understan-
ding of mo�va�on from a Biblical worldview, allo-
wing us to integrate the powerful research work of
secular researchers into our Chris�an lives.
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Mo�va�on Theories
If, in fact, we are designed to pursue certain needs,
we would expect that this design would be revea-
led in God’s Word to us. We would expect it to be
laid out in the story of crea�on where we see the
explana�on of why things are the way they are. Yet,
such a clear statement of design seems elusive, if
not absent.
However, a careful reading of Genesis chapters 1
and 2 can give us solid hints of such a design. Some
are clear, such as the dominion of man over the cre-
ated earth. Others must be winnowed from the sto-
ry of God’s glory revealed through all of crea�on.
We will take a walk through these two chapters of
Genesis focusing on the crea�on of humanity and
suggest what they might reveal about God’s design
for us and how that impacts our mo�va�ons and
behavior.
In previous wri�ngs, we have begun the develop-
ment of such a process (Murphy, 2009; Murphy &
Murphy, 2023b). These efforts were originally focu-
sed on developing the understanding of the role
that these crea�on drives play in developing emo�-
onal fluency. Later it became apparent that these
drives serve as the founda�ons of mo�va�on, as
well.
The story of the crea�on of humanity begins with,
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image,
a�er our likeness. And let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
heavens and over the livestock and over all the
earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Ge-
nesis 1:26).
This verse sets the stage for explora�on of the
needs God designed within us from the beginning.
We can see that we were created to desire the pre-
sence of God (PRESENCE of the Creator) in our lives
understand the image that shapes us. We are dri-
ven by nature to grasp a�er the nature of the One
whose likeness shapes ours. It is not just knowled-
ge of the Creator that we seek, but we seek His pre-
sence in our lives. Genesis 3:8 tells us God walked
in the Garden with that first couple sa�sfying this
desire for His presence. This relatedness to the divi-
ne is made even more clear as we look at addi�onal