Episode #286 Beyond Performance: Finding Your True Worth – Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Hey, friend. If you've ever thought I just need to be more accomplished, more capable, more together than this episode is for you.

I'm rereading Richard Foster's book, the Celebration of Discipline, and he says, “Courageously, we need to articulate new, more human ways to live. We should take exception to the modern psychosis that defines people by how much they can produce or what they earn. We should experiment with bold new alternatives to the present death-giving system. The Spiritual Discipline of simplicity is not a lost dream, but a recurrent vision throughout history. It can be recaptured today. It must be.”

In short, he defines simplicity as trusting God, of centering our lives around life with God, of seeking God first and seeking his kingdom first, and trusting God to reorient everything else around it.

I actually have been thinking a lot about this topic in this particular episode in light of the Great British Baking Show. It's lighthearted, it's fun. You're watching people bake things and their baking successes and catastrophes. And for the most part, the contestants seem to be friendly with each other. They're having a good time and they are passionate about baking. They get to learn from baking experts and try new things, and it's just a feel good kind of show.

Well, what got me thinking about this was a few nights ago I started wondering what the prize was for these contestants. And so I Googled it. Do you wanna know what the prize is for winning the Great British Baking Show? You get a cake plate and flowers.

Sure, you're on TV. People start knowing your name. I'm sure there are people who went on to start cookbooks or spin off opportunities, maybe even open a bake shop. I'm not saying that there's nothing else that comes with it, but I was shocked to learn that these contestants put in all of this work and all of this effort, to take leaves from their jobs, sacrifice time with their families and saw it worthwhile for the joy of doing something they're passionate about. For this incredible experience that doesn't culminate in a huge contract or monetary reward.

And it got me thinking about this concept of simplicity because a lot of times, especially here in the United States, we can put so much importance and significance on earning more, producing more, something that gives us specific financial aim.
But a more simplistic approach might be like that of the Great British Baking Show. I get to live doing something I'm passionate about. I get to learn from an expert, from the great God who made me and loves me. And I get to experience life with him. And so I'm not defined by what I produce or what I earn or what accolades or titles come behind my name. I can let go of the pressure to perform and enjoy the experience because that itself is enough reward for me.

I wanna read some verses for us that remind us of what we get to experience in life with God:

Ephesians 2:8–9 – It is by grace you have been saved, through faith… not by works.

Romans 3:23-24 – 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.

1 John 3:1 – See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

In simplicity, we can let the other things fall away. Even the good things like partnering with God in his ministry to the world, those are secondary. We get to walk out our callings and guess what? Our first calling is we are called to God. We are called his beloved. We are called his children. We get to abide to rest in, to live in daily life with him.

I love the way that Foster talks about this, that we get to experiment with bold alternatives to a death giving system that says we're defined by what we can produce or what we can earn, and instead, we get to experience more human ways to live.

I don't know a more human way to live than in the way God created us as humans to live. As those who get to experience life-giving intimacy with him, to walk with him through life in the beautiful, quiet moments and in the really hard ones, to find strength and comfort and refuge in him.

We get to be those who let go today of a little bit more of that pressure to perform and instead, receive more of the grace giving way that God offers us. And the delight and the rest and the peace that comes from that. And so here's a question I invite you to take to God and see what he would share with you:

God, what's a more human way for me to live today?

If that feels like a broad, open-ended question, you bet it is. And I'm excited for the things that God wants to show you about what he offers you uniquely and specifically in the circumstances and the season that you're in.

God, what's a more human way for me to live today?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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