My Love Affair with Effort & Why We Must Break Up

 

Effort is a bit of a strange guy. At first he seems so... right. He tells you, “You don’t have to be perfect!” and you breathe a sigh of relief.

Now you can just relax and be you. What could be better?

But then he adds, “You just need to try. And try hard!” 

That doesn’t seem so bad. As a matter of fact, it feels pretty good. The more you try, the better you feel. You feel accomplished and fulfilled.

And when you don’t succeed, you think well, at least I tried my best.

Yep, effort seems like a really nice guy.

But as you get closer, you begin to see his problems. All relationships have problems, you say, we’ll work it out. But these are some pretty serious problems... problems that have the potential to steal your joy... problems that have caused me to reconsider my commitment to effort.

Let me show you what I mean.

I’ve been with effort a long time, and over the years I’ve noticed something - my love affair with him has the dangerous potential to twist all my relationships into performance-based traps.

My relationship with me:

Oh, I can get really tough on myself. Am I trying hard enough? Am I lazing around too much? Do I deserve this break? Did I do enough? You know how it goes... us ‘work ‘til we drop’ women. That’s effort, alright; he pushes me to the max, and then wouldn’t even let me enjoy some downtime. You can’t stop now he says, there’s more to be done.

It took me a while to realize what he was doing. Chiding me when I rested, manipulating me into believing that rest is something I should earn rather than a sweet command from my Father intended for my good.

My relationship with others:

And it doesn’t stop with me. Without even realizing it, I check to see if others are as in love with effort as I am. So if this is what it looks like when I work hard, I look at some poor, unsuspecting soul, and if perhaps he’s doing it differently to me, I might just assume he doesn’t share the same commitment to effort as me.

Effort and I, we sit up on that pedestal... that critical seat of judgment, and together we muse - perhaps he needs to try harder.

Even when I'm serving others, effort pushes grace right out of the way, tries to twist my motivation and then steal all the glory. 

Yep, this love affair with effort has been going on a long time and it has caused some serious damage between my loved ones and me.

But as grave as that is, that’s not even the greatest threat.

My relationship with God:

You see effort crossed the line when he tried to take the place of God, my true First Love. And what’s even more tragic is I almost let him. As a matter of fact, it is a daily battle to keep effort in his place.

You see effort, kept restrained, is quite a nice chap to have around. He encourages you to work hard to reach your goals... to put your ‘heart and soul’ into whatever you put your hands or mind to. He helps you motivate others to do their best. Why, he even supports your intentionality in spending time with God, your intended First Love.

But he is sneaky, and while I'm praying to my Father, he is whispering to me - trying to convince me that somehow my deliverance (from whatever trial I'm experiencing) depends on 'our' self-sufficiency rather than on the supernatural workings of God. Imagine, trying to limit my expectations of God. 

Yep, if you’re not careful, he creeps up and up in importance until... well, until he becomes the one you worship.

So we’re breaking up... effort and I. We can be friends, but the love affair ends here. I’m loosening the chains he has on me.

He can’t convince me that my love affair with him is evidence of a successful Christian life.

He can’t convince me that I must deliver at a high level for God’s acceptance and approval.

He won’t make me believe that my effort is somehow better than that of someone else... or worse.

I will not agree with him and allow myself to be enslaved by others’ approval of my efforts.

No, effort will no longer be permitted to steal my joy. You see, I’ve been with effort long enough to know that no matter how you try, you can’t find what you’re looking for with him.

No, my friend, only God through Jesus Christ, can give me... give you that joy that we seek.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re searching for God, a new believer or a seasoned Christian effort has a way of getting at us all. Perhaps it has something to do with our pride, that deadly sin that infects us all. The faulty belief that we can somehow improve our standing with God by our own efforts as if what Christ did for us was not enough.

No, make no mistake, slow dancing with effort is dangerous, He undermines and steals our joy – the very gift of God that Christ died to give us.

It is for freedom, that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Oh, the joy of being free!

I’m so thankful for grace and for the truth I’m learning more and more – ‘We cannot be truly happy unless God’s acceptance of us is totally based on Christ.’ (desiringGod.org)

My friend, ‘if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall’, hold firm to the hope that Christ came to give us, the freedom that comes from relying solely on His righteousness, and let’s keep effort in its rightful place.

********************

What about you?

Take a close look at your intentions.

Have you been hoodwinked by effort?

Or are you happily resting on God's grace alone?

I'd love if you'd drop me a line to let me know 

how you handle effort's ploys?

Blessings to you, my friend,
Carlie

By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone

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My Love Affair with Effort & Why We Must Break Up