But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-8, ESV)
“I’m battling some performance anxiety,” said a golfer during my first lesson as his teacher.
I appreciated his honesty, though it may have helped him to know that his fears are pretty common. We might even say that it’s human nature to be concerned about what other people think of us.
You’re not going to impress Jesus, but when you press into Jesus, he empowers you to do the very things he has for you to do.As a coach, whether I am recruiting, teaching or working with our team, I can see a person tighten up when their anxieties rise. They scrape another ball quickly to hit, veins pop up, and their skin color is flushed. I do my best and find it my job to change directions, albeit momentarily: “Did you enjoy going to the game yesterday? How is your family doing?” With a quick switch in topic, I often see some of the tension go. They can now re-address and work on what we are trying to do in their swing. Even in the challenge, their minds and hearts can slow down.
In golf, we become frustrated when we don’t re-create the swing move like we did in the practice swing or as it was demonstrated to us. We do this also in our faith. We struggle with the same old sin patterns—or perhaps new ones seem to be sprouting up, and we can’t seem to will ourselves to do better. Time to step back and re-focus: “How do I live out life as a Christ follower? Whose strength am I operating out of right now?”
As believers in Christ, we didn’t save ourselves. Scripture is clear that God is the author of our salvation (Hebrews 5:9) and that by his grace he saves us (Ephesians 2:8-9). What you may not remember is that his grace is fixed; it keeps us and will continue to hold us. When we forget this, we find ourselves on the performance treadmill, trying to accomplish righteousness by our own efforts and actions. But just like any walker on that treadmill, we won’t see progress. We’ll always be fighting the backward flow of the world around us.
So what do we do? Step off the treadmill! Instead, walk freely in following Christ. Our commands to obey the Lord are given to us by the very one who helps us carry them out. He has given us his Spirit that we might do “greater things than these” (John 14:12). You’re not going to impress Jesus, but when you press into Jesus (see the difference?), he empowers you to do the very things he has for you to do. Cry out to Jesus when you are weak, and as a quote from one of my favorite pastors says, “as you wait for the Lord, position yourself under the waterfall of grace.”
This is a great time of year for thanking God. Praise him today for doing what you could not: living the perfect life. Jesus’ performance is the only one that can truly bring life. We have his righteousness imputed to us, and hallelujah that we do!
—
Aimee Neff
December 14, 2017
Copyright 2017 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.