Stop Performing for God

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28

Are you exhausted trying to earn God's approval?

Many of us are victims of the Protestant work ethic. We have been taught that we must succeed and work hard. We often equate that same drive to our spiritual life. We think we must work for it.

When I have asked people if they know Christ is Lord of their life, they immediately default to saying, "I am trying to do good and I am trying to do the things that God wants me to do. I hope I have been good enough to get into heaven."

Do you hear the exhaustion in that statement? "I'm trying. I'm hoping. Maybe I've been good enough."

That's not the Gospel. That's performance-based religion. And it will wear you out.

Although I have several earned degrees theologically, I am not good enough to make it to heaven. You are not either. Therefore, I feel very comfortable with you. It is the people who think they are good enough who have the most problems.

We don't like people to see the chinks in our armor. We think God is looking for us to perform. But because God made you, He knows all about you. He's not waiting for you to impress Him. He's not keeping score. He's not comparing your performance to someone else's.

God did not make eternal security something that is difficult for you. He is the One who initiated it, and He is the One who will sustain it in your life.

Here's what you need to understand: You cannot perform your way into God's favor. You already have His favor because of Christ. You cannot earn what's already been given as a gift.

Stop trying to prove yourself to God. Stop thinking that more effort, more church attendance, more good deeds will finally make you acceptable. You're already accepted in Christ.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Put down the performance. Pick up the rest. You don't have to earn what Christ already purchased. Stop working. Start resting.

That's grace.