Performance Based

"Many Christ-followers try to live for God's acceptance, love and blessings instead of living from God's love, acceptance, and blessings to us based on 

Jesus' accomplishments for us."

Limitless Life, Derwin Gray

I identify far too much with that statement. It took me years to realize that I was living a performance-based existence and searching for validation in what I was able to accomplish. It affected my attitude towards my family, my career, and my relationship with God. As I have recognized this over the past several years, I have readjusted my perspective to more accurately reflect who I am in God's eyes. While I may still fall into the "performance trap", I now have a greater appreciation and understanding of my value based simply on God's unconditional love. 

It may be difficult for us to fully understand this (and even harder for us to live it out) but that's what make it so unique. This perfect love can only come from a perfect God. No matter how successful or unsuccessful I might be God's love for me is unchanging. I don't have to comprehend it to appreciate it.

What's Your Value?

By what measure do we determine our self worth? For most of us it's found in two outcomes: the

things we do & the things we don't do. When we do something positive (achieve a goal, buy gifts for our family, take part in community service, refrain from sin) we feel better about who we are. When we do something negative (yell at our kids, slip back into bad habits, ignore people around us) we feel worse about who we are. Essentially we set up a self-value that is based upon our behavioral choices. While this might work in some respects in the physical world, it creates an inaccurate picture of our standing with God.

I believe that one of the most difficult things for us to realize is that God doesn't base His estimation of us on our behavior. There is no cosmic, supernatural scale where God weighs our daily choices and then decides whether to show His love and answer our prayers. We are completely loved regardless of our actions (even though we confuse consequences with God's disdain.) His love and our value in His eyes are constant--this is the status we struggle to accept in a world that generally follows the opposite philosophy.

Humbly embracing the everlasting love of an eternal Father is key in grasping His gift of salvation.

Right Now

I am loved by God right now. Not because of anything I have done, but because of who He is. I will not be able to earn more of His love or increase my value in His eyes. I cannot preach a better sermon to change my standing. I cannot blog more frequently or write a statement that causes my status to change. No matter how much time I spend with my family I will always be a beloved son in His eyes. 

This is refreshing to my soul even as I struggle with grasping the concept. The culture that we live in operates mainly in a "what have you done for me lately" mentality that threatens to squeeze out God's cry of unconditional love. We find true rest and esteem in the knowledge that our Father loves us fully regardless of who we are attempting to be.

No Conditions

God didn't choose me because of anything I am capable of doing. In fact, Scripture says there there was almost nothing to me. In spite of that He has positioned me and saved me simply because He loves me. I think that I gain a glimpse of this as I love my children & my wife. It is the notion of loving someone simply because of who they are and the relationship we share.

Unfortunately this is in contrast to most of the other relationships in our life that are based on performance and recent history. Even within the church it can become about the most recent thing we have done-tithing, serving, kind words-that determine the level of love we receive from other people. It is difficult to replicate, but it is that unconditional love from God that is shown to us that we are called to extend to others. That begins to happen (in our own flawed fashion) when we recognize the value that God has for each of us. Seeing what God does in us and then transferring that compassion to others is one of the worthiest endeavors we can engage in.


GOD wasn't attracted to you and didn't choose you because you were big and important--the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love...   Deuteronomy 7:7-8

Seeking Acceptance

Acceptance can be a very tantalizing and dangerous object of our affections. From a young age we become conditioned to seeking it from our parents and then spend the rest of our life in pursuit of it. We push after success in athletics, academics and in the number of our friends to appease our souls. As we get older we look for it from our bosses and our spouses. This human need affects all of our relationships-sometimes in ways that we don't even recognize. It ultimately influences the way that we interact with God.

We fight within ourselves to gain His acceptance. We fall victim to the tainted belief that if we can just be good enough that He will love us. It is one of the greatest lies that satan has ever convinced the world to buy into. It is a fallacy that keeps too many souls from pursuing God because they don't think they can measure up.

The truth is that we are His beloved. He knows all of who we are and loves us deeply and passionately through it all. He has fully accepted us long before He ever created us and wants us to grasp that love so we can begin to trust Him.

Communicating that message to the world (and believing it for ourselves) is the key to a passionate intimacy with God that will transform His people and His church.

Up Front

Most of our human relationships work like this: invest time, share respect and treat each other well enough that you eventually form a strong bond of love. When that chain is broken, we don't end up with a strong relationship-in fact it leads to one not being formed at all.

One of our biggest struggles as flawed humans is that we impose that same pattern on our relationship with God. We believe that if we attend church, don't look at porn, don't get drunk, pray & read our Bible fairly regularly and are decent people that He will love us. When we mess up any of that it's a bad day and we think God is disappointed and His love decreases.

The error in this philosophy is that we are imposing human characteristics on God. He doesn't place His love for us at the end of our relationship, but at the beginning. His love isn't given because we have earned it, but simply because of who He is and who we are to Him.