How To Do Your Best For God
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
Romans 5:1
Do you ever have those days where you feel like you’re not good enough? You can’t quite put your finger on it, but there is a presence of lack, dread, and weakness–even as a Christian?
You are not alone! Those days try to sneak up on me as well. And to be honest with you, it’s not a “day” that is sneaking up on us, but our enemy. He wants you to believe that no matter what you do, it’s never good enough. The devil torments Christians each day, not just unbelievers.
How? Through legalism. Through our mindset of, “I gotta do more! If I don’t, God won’t love me! I won’t be good enough!”
Let me tell you a secret: You are good enough, because of your faith in Jesus as your Savior, right now, this very second–and nothing can change this. Because of this fact, even if you never do another thing for God, you are good! I need to repeat that because just because you read it, that doesn’t mean you believe it–it’s hard to believe!
So let’s say it again, and I want you to consciously do your best to believe it as the truth, because it is:
“Even if I never do another thing for God, I’m good!” And I need to reiterate, that is, if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus.
You see, as humans, we are all “works based” in our thinking. If we do this, we get that. However, it doesn’t work like that with our Creator, He’s different. It’s so hard for us to grasp that everything we have from God is all free by grace through faith in what Jesus has already accomplished for us (See Ephesians 2).
So let’s say it again, and this time, exhale. Allow yourself to deflate a little. Here we go:
“Even if I never do another thing for God, I’m good.”
Again.
“EVEN IF I NEVER DO ANOTHER THING FOR GOD, I’M GOOD.”
If you have a religious spirit that normally pesters you, it’s probably going bat-crap crazy at this point. But let’s do it one more time just to tick him off…
“EVEN IF I NEVER DO ANOTHER THING FOR GOD, I’M GOOOOOOOOOOD! I HAVEN’T EARNED ANYTHING AND ALL I HAVE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME FOR FREE! THANK YOU, JESUS!!! WHAT A WONDERFUL GIFT!!!!”
My friend, this is the truth. And it is this truth about your true identity in Christ’s work alone, that gives you the freedom you are so desperately looking for (see John 8:32). Once you get this down pat, deep in your soul, all of the pressure gets taken off of you and placed on Jesus–where it belongs.
Once you realize you’ve been freely justified, and all you have is free, you’ll always want to do your very best!
You’ll always want to do as much as you possibly can! You will strive–as you rest in grace–for more and more and MORE! You’ll finally begin to do the best you can, because you are already the best you possibly can be!
C’MON SOMEBODY! This is some back-flippin’, knee-slappin’, brother-huggin’ sweet news! That’s why it’s called THE GOOD NEWS! That’s what “the gospel” means! GOOD! NEWS!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! I could get up right now and run a circle around my house!
SO! Because of this great news, YOU’LL DO SO MUCH MORE WITH YOUR LIFE FOR GOD. Why? Because you don’t have to! This is called a relationship–NOT RELIGION. This is what God is longing for from you. He wants you to want to do stuff for Him, because you love Him–because He loves you unconditionally through Christ.
Here are five things that will help you do your very best–because you are the very best, inside:
- ASK GOD TO USE YOU. This is a very important step to unlocking your God-given destiny. There are many Christians who go to their graves with unfinished work for God here on earth. Don’t be that person! Simply say, “God, use me, no matter what. I’m ready.” And then prepare yourself, because He will!
- STUDY JESUS, HARD. Friend, you will never be able to exude Christ’s character if you are simply living off of second-hand faith for an hour each week–or less. You must get to know Him for yourself! I fell into this trap–the trap of believing others, blindly–and for years I had the wrong impression of Jesus. Because of incorrect teaching, I thought I had to shape up before I could enter into a deep relationship with Him–WRONG. So study Him for yourself, daily! He’s given you all the material you need to understand His personality. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you through His Word and grace-filled teachings, and He will. What you’ll soon find out is that He is nothing like you thought–that is, when you hated Him, ignored Him, or, were afraid of Him.
- BEWARE OF THE RELIGIOUS CHRISTIANS. There’s not many other things that can zap your confidence in who you are in Christ, quite like the religious Christians. They are cold, harsh, and they have a condition-based love. They are sin-focused, and not grace-centered. They categorize sins from “bad to worse,” while completely ignoring that they too, have sin in their own lives which they belittle. They will try to convince you that you’re not as good as them; and that their church work, church attendance, and Scripture memorization has earned them more favor with God than you. They will want you to fall in line behind them, and if you don’t, you’re not really saved. They are meaner than most non-believers and they will try to make you feel like a beat dog. IGNORE THIS. Have your mind made up ahead of time to ask God to bless these arrogant types of Christians, genuinely. Force yourself through God’s grace to think of them with love. If you don’t, you’ll hate them and the devil will have his way with your joy, confidence, and peace. Remember: They’ve not earned ANYTHING. You are on the same level as them, if they believe in Jesus too. So pause, pray, and then proceed when you face these types. AND LOOK THEM IN THE EYE. Christ lives in you, and they need to see Him.
- REMEMBER THAT THE GRACE OF THE CROSS TRUMPS ALL. Lots of religious Christians, as well as unbelievers, will want to point to “works” as the measuring stick of sainthood. The religious Christians will even throw in one of the most taken-out-of-context verses, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17), to throw you off course. James however, was speaking to people who already believed! Actual believers were being told, “Do something, do ANYTHING! Revive your faith by taking action!” (Kinda like I’m doing in this devotional). He wasn’t saying work to be saved–that would remove grace completely. So always keep in the forefront of your mind that God’s gift of free forgiveness by grace through Jesus’ blood sacrifice supersedes everything in the Bible. “But Matt, what about–” Nope. Everything. The Cross was was the final piece that gave us peace, with God. Enjoy it!
- BE AWARE OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. In order to do your best for God, I need you to realize that you are a spirit–not just a body. This is why Paul said for us to, “Fix our minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2); which simply means be aware of your spiritual surroundings. At all times, since the creation of this universe, a war has been raging in the spiritual realm between heaven and hell, and we are in the middle of it. God wants your soul in heaven, and Satan wants your soul in hell. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spirits…” (see Ephesians 6:12). Evil spirits from hell (and no other place) influence people in their minds. The devil and his little marching morons are always trying to not just influence us, but also, discourage us! They are as real as gravity! It is their purpose to try to make you hate others, refuse to forgive, hold grudges, be ultra-critical, be envious, hate your neighbor, gossip about people, be addicted, constantly be lustful, and many other diabolical things. So pay attention and recognize you are at war, spiritually! BUT–Christ is in you, so you never have to be afraid! He is always strengthening you and protecting you! Most of the time, He’s strangling out a demon, or a sickness, or even when death is trying to get at you, He’s stopping it–and you don’t even realize it.
Of course, there are many more things that God will teach you through the Holy Spirit–techniques and methods which will help you do your best each and every day! But mostly, if you’ll just remember that because of Jesus, you are already the best you possibly can be, in turn, you’ll begin to do great and mighty things through Him!
-Matt
A prayer for you: Heavenly Father, thank you for this day! Thank you for waking me up, and for the air in my lungs. Thank you for my life! What a gift it is to be able to live through you again today! Right now, I lift up all who are reading this, directly to you. For those who have been beat down by religious works or the guilt from complacency, HELP THEM BEGIN TO EXUDE YOUR STRENGTH! Begin to teach them who they really are in Christ! I rebuke any religious spirit that is tormenting them, BE GONE, YOU IDIOT! YOU HAVE NO POWER! IN THE NAME OF JESUS, FILL THEM UP WITH YOUR CONFIDENCE! You created us to BE confident, in you, so show us how! And please, lead us, guide us, and protect us along the way. Help us to do our best each day as we already know that we ARE the best, in Christ. Amen!
For more of my teachings, pick up one of my books.
Categories: Devotionals