God is looking at our obedience and faithfulness, not the outcome. We are taught in this world through grades, sports, and work that performance matters. The measure of how fast, how high, how many numbers, how much, and the overwhelming comparison to others performances has been the indicator we measure ourselves with.

However, what if God measures a different way? I am offering you the opportunity to switch, or turn off, the worldly comparison, competitive spirit, and judgement of Performance to seeking God’s nature and character, running your own race He has placed before you, and being obedient and faithful to what He asked of you.

It feels good when people congratulate you, clap for you, seek you out to reward you, are favorable to you, and treat you like you are well desired and are meeting their standard of praise. 

However, there is a danger with building your life and how you measure yourself with this logic. We should be looking for God to reward us and tell us, “Good job.”

Have you ever questioned where your motives come from? Motives are the driving force behind everything we want, say, or do.

Activity:

When you ask God for things you desire or want, have you ever tried to get to the root of why you desire the things you want or who you want to be?

 It can be easy to want something or be another version of yourself that seems harmless, but could be motivated for selfish reasons. 

For example, if you day dream about wanting something or see yourself being different; question if any of those desires are rooted through a time when you compared yourself to someone, was triggered when you felt a need to prove yourself because of a rejection or put down, or was desired to be seen as someone else because you decided to measure yourself against someone else’s wealth, reputation, material gain, or title.

Prayer Challenge:

Father God, I pray that You will help me to deny myself of worldly ambition or power. Help me to surrender every area of my thoughts, actions, wants, desires, and struggles to You. Help me to align my wants, purpose, desires, and self image to Your wants, desires, and the way You want me to be seen. Please help me to seek Your acceptance, goodness, and plan You have for my life. In Your Name Yeshua. AMEN.

Scriptures:

James 4:3-10 NASB 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.