Unshakable Worth Not Based on Performance

“. . . In repentance and rest is your salvation,
   in quietness and trust is your strength . . .” from Isaiah 30:15

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by all the good things I want to do with my time. With being unemployed right now, I have plenty of time. I sometimes feel pulled in lots of different directions. I want God’s help to “number my days rightly.” I want to live with His peace in my heart. I want to accomplish things for Him, but I also want to live with spaces to just be. I can’t do everything all at once. I need help in deciding what to do each day and in focusing fully on the moment at hand.
    I like these lyrics from an Andrew Peterson song, “If you trust me with your time, I’ll spend it wisely.” That’s what I want! I want to walk with God daily and for Him to guide my steps.
    Even though that’s how I started off my day yesterday, I got sucked into the pressure to hurriedly move right from one task to the next. Ah!
    At one point, I happened to open up the book The Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee and ch.6 stood out to me in the table of contents - The Performance Trap - “I must meet certain standards to feel good about myself” - Fear of Failure - God’s Answer: Justification. I skimmed some, but am looking forward to reading the whole book later. But right now, it really got me thinking . . .
    There are so many good things I want to do, which is good, but cramming is an unsatisfying way to live. Am I doing things to prove my worth? If so, that is a trap because you can’t ever do enough. There is always more you could have done or something you could have done better, and that leaves you feeling unworthy.
    With being unemployed, I sometimes do feel like I have something to prove. But my worth is not based on what I do or accomplish. I already have value in God, in His great love for me, and in belonging to Him - in simply being - regardless of what I accomplish in a day.
    I do pray that God would provide something soon and show that He is taking care of me and leading me, and I know that He will. I don’t need to worry or be afraid. I can rest in Him. 
    In Him, I have grace and freedom. My worth is not dependent on what I do or on “measuring up” to a standard. I do want to live wholeheartedly to love God and others and to seek God’s help in living a well-balanced life.
     I am extremely grateful for mercy and fresh starts. Today, I want to begin anew. Rather than getting caught up in a whirlwind of busyness. I want to walk with God - to celebrate and savor each moment of the day in relationship with Him.
    Christ has set me free! I belong to Him! I am beautiful and loved and never alone! My worth comes from Him, and it is secure and unshakable!
    In closing, here is a song and some verses that express that:

What If - Jadon Lavik

What if I climbed that mountain, what if I swam to that shore
What if every battle was victorious then would you love me more
Would you love me more
What if I were everyone’s first choice, what if I went farther than before
What if I stood high above the rest than would you love me more
Would you love me more

You say I belong to you apart from the things I do
You say I belong to you I’m in awe of why you do
Why you do, why you do, I’m in awe of you, ooh

What if I ignored the hand that fed me, what if I forgot to confess
What if I stumbled down that mountain then would you love me less
Lord would you love me less

What if I were everyone's last choice what if I mixed in with the rest
What if I failed what I passed before then would you love me less
lord would you would you love me less, oh no oh no oh no

You say I belong to you apart from the things I do
You say I belong to you I’m in awe of why you do
You do you do you do

What have I done to deserve your son sent to die for me
What can I give I want to live give me eyes to see
In a world that keeps changin’ there’s one thing that I know is true
Your love is stayin’ there’s nothing else I’ll hold onto

You say I belong to you apart from the things I do
You say I belong to you I’m in awe of why you do
Why you do

You say I belong to you apart from the things I do
You say I belong to you I’m in awe of why you do
I’m in awe of you I’m in awe of you

The way you love me, the way you do
The way you do , the way you love me, you love me , you love me
The way you do the way you do the way you love me,
the way you love you love you love


“. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. . . . Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” Romans 3:23-25a; 27-28

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.” -Romans 5:1-2

“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” -John 8:34-36