LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Psalm 76:11 Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them;

Question: What is the most significant contribution you make to your family, your place of work, or your church?  Take some time to really think about this. I will wait…

(insert imaginary jeopardy music here)

Now, let me ask you another question? How many of the options you considered as an answer to the first questions were in the category of actions, functions, or accomplishments? And if so, why? Why is it that we consider our most significant contributions to life to be the things we do?

We are so stuck in a performance-based value system. We tend to measure our significance by what we do, which opens up can after can of worms; worms that eat away at the reality of our worth rather than truly express our worth. We put our faith in the worms to define our value, which only leads to us feeling like dirt.

There is the worm of expectations. We become motivated by what we believe others expect from us, and if we don’t measure up then we minimize our significance.

There is the worm of excellence. We are driven by the need to do things so well that no fault can be found in how we performed. Performance becomes the standard by which our worth is measured.

May I suggest, at the risk of it sounding arrogant, that the most significant contribution you make to any social or spiritual relationship to just be you?

YOU!

You are significant. Not because of what you have done, but because of what God has done and is doing in you. You do not earn significance. Significance is a gift of grace that declares your eternal worth in Jesus Christ.

Significance does not need to develop. The first declaration of significance God makes over your life when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is the final declaration you will ever need.

Significance does not fade with unfulfilled expectations or lack of excellence, for that would mean that God’s love is capable of fading.

From the moment this truth is realized and believed, expectations and excellence cease to be the means by which we gain significance and they become the means by which we express significance.

Because we are significant, we can consider others better than ourselves (Phil. 2:3) and love them by seeking to fulfill their expectations.

When we understand our significance, we will do all things with excellence as an expression of the worth of Jesus Christ in us. (1 Peter 2:9)

When we truly accept that the glory and excellence of Jesus Christ has been granted to us by God the Father (2 Peter 1:3), then we will cease from making promises to people and seeking to fulfill them to earn our worth. Instead, we will make our vows to the LORD your God and perform them as an expression of His great worth in us.

You are the most significant contribution to any social or spiritual relationship you have. Not because of what you do, but because you bring Christ to that place.