The Carrot and the Stick
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. James 4:13-5:6
Find a better carrot not a bigger stick.
Riches, fine garments, weeping, and howling are often motivating factors for us. We are often more motivated by what we get to have than what we might miss out on. We will clean up for a marshmallow that is offered to us, more than we will behave because someone threatens to take away our free time. As you seek to motivate others, find positive reinforcement for good behaviors rather than threats for negative behaviors. Positive reinforcement leads to motivating out of love, which causes another’s heart to be drawn toward the rewarder of good behavior (c.f. Romans 2:4, Hebrews 11:6). Threats, and negative reinforcement of bad behavior may produce behavior modification, but it doesn’t woo the heart you are reaching towards. (c.f. Exodus 7-11—Pharaoh's behavior was changed to let the people go, but he hardened his heart). If you want to have a far-reaching positive influence on others, offer rewards, riches, and fine garments; if you threaten with pain, weeping, and howling, your influence on others will often bring short-term compliance but harden their heart over time.
Teach what you believe in, not what you're against.
The best way to lead others into the truth is to show them the truth rather than point out the lies they need to avoid. As you lead others into the truth, they will become aware of the falsehood pitfalls that are along the path of truth, but their focus will remain on the path of truth. The more you focus on the truth, the more you are able to ignore and avoid the falsehoods. You teach and live best by positively reinforcing the truth, rather than negatively attacking bad information. Throughout his epistles, Paul confronts false teaching, so it is important to guard against false teaching. Good teaching needs both an admonishment against false teaching and clear presentation of the truth. A society needs both clearly defined and enforced punitive consequences for violating its laws and a means to applaud those who exemplify what the society holds as good. Praising good behavior provides the carrot that motivates individuals; punishing bad behavior reinforces the rules of the society. The rules (negative reinforcements) are not harmful while the rewards (positive reinforcements) are good (Romans 7:7-12). Both rules and rewards are necessary. Only having rules leads to a fear of the law and disengaged compliance, but only having rewards leads to a disregard of the laws and leads to chaos. if rules and rewards are implemented together, it leads others to positive behavior out of a desire to do so.