Worth is NOT Contingent on Doing

2.7.11

I have been reading fiction stories almost every night before I go to bed. I discovered several months ago that it helps me to calm my brain before I dose off for some zzzz’s. God is so perfect in His timing. This is what I read a couple of nights ago, in the midst of freaking out about “good and bad”, “right and wrong”.

“How should a Christian feel about the little moments of her life? Do I sometimes sacrifice the moments for the mission? Does my busyness please my Savior?...I thought about how guilty I feel when I sit in the sun and enjoy its warmth. How I squirm when I’m asked to wait in the doctor’s office. I thought about the lists hanging at that very moment from the front of my refrigerator.” Bette Nordberg, “A Season of Grace”

It reminded me about something Pete Briscoe said about a week ago while he was preaching a message. He basically said that for many people in our Christian walks, we start out walking with Jesus, but we end up working for Jesus. When I heard that, I screamed (in my mind, of course), “That’s my life!”

A week later, I believe the day after I read the above chapter of “A Season of Grace”, I talked to my best friend, Heather, about my struggle with “right and wrong”, “good and bad”, the angel and devil mental battle. Her words were so wise; I’m sure coming straight from our Heavenly Father, knowing exactly what I needed to hear. She basically told me to take the worth out of my time or in other words, mentally take the importance out of what I do. She continued to say that what I do in the next 10 minutes will not determine God’s love for me, or the salvation of that person I have to tell about Jesus, or insert “should” or “must” here. I fill my mind with a lot of black and white thinking…a lot of I “should” do this, and if I don’t I’m a bad Christian or I’m letting God down or I’m doing something wrong, etc. Heather reminded me that MY WORTH IS NOT CONTINGENT ON WHAT I DO. I’m always so focused on letting God down. Remember the video I wrote about a couple of week ago? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfUzodLRvk ) The “typical Christian” in the skit expresses exactly the way I feel sometimes, “I’ve let you down so many times.” And then God replies, “No. You were never holding me up. I hold you up with my victorious, righteous right hand. In this relationship, I hold you up.” If I would just surrender control, it would make that so much more clear.

The truth is, though, that there is nothing I (key word, “I”) can do to make Him love me more or less. MY WORTH IS NOT CONTINGENT ON WHAT I DO. God speaks into the Christian’s life by saying, “You’ve listened to far too many voices that aren’t of me. You think you’re junk, don’t you? Listen to me. I don’t make junk. What does that say about me? How can I show you that my love for you has no boundaries?” Even in the midst of pain, where God is chiseling me into His original masterpiece, He is doing that to make me more like Him...He is doing it out of love. His love is so great that He cannot leave me where I am at…reflecting some part that is not of Him. I will NEVER be perfect, so there will always be chiseling, but it is continuously out of God’s love for me. He doesn’t look at me, and say “You aren’t good enough.” He looks at me and says, “You are doing well, but I want you to look more like me.” He says, “You are my workmanship and I find favor in you.” He doesn’t have a smile on His face as He chisels away at me…it hurts Him too. But in the end, when I look more like Him, we are both smiling!

He finds FAVOR in me.

1 I will exalt you, LORD,

for you lifted me out of the depths

and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

2 LORD my God, I called to you for help,

and you healed me.

3 You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead;

you spared me from going down to the pit.

4 Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people;

praise his holy name.

5 For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime;

weeping may stay for the night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning.

– Psalm 30:1 – 5



Good people obtain favor from the LORD, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.

– Proverbs 12:2



3 Blessed are those who act justly,

who always do what is right.

4 Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people,

come to my aid when you save them,

5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,

that I may share in the joy of your nation

and join your inheritance in giving praise.

6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;

we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,

they gave no thought to your miracles;

they did not remember your many kindnesses,

and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,

to make his mighty power known.

-Psalm 106:3 – 8



God shows favor even when I screw up…do wrong…sin. And ultimately, Jesus saves. He took every wrong thing I’ve done or will do and died for it…I am covered by grace NO MATTER WHAT I DO, so even when I do make wrong choices, God still loves me. He may be angered for a time, but ultimately, His favor rests upon me. Of course, I still need to use wisdom and discernment in decision making, and be repentant of known sin, but I need to REST in my decision making process, trusting that if I am seeking God, He will do right and good through me.



I do good because God is good, and He works through me. Read below for proof!

Ephesians 2:8-10

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I need to stop working to do good on my own. It takes too much energy…energy that could be used RESTING in Jesus.

On that note, I rest.