God’s grace-based way to quit doing more, living legalistically, and telling yourself to get it together

As a new wife, I wanted to make an edible dinner for two. So like any normal person, I started honing my cooking skills with a French onion soup recipe. How hard could soup be– don’t you just pour things from cans into a pot?

The recipe wasn’t complicated, but I didn’t have the ingredients soooooo…. I substituted what the recipe called for with what we had on hand: chicken broth for beef broth and onion powder for onions. Substituting was a BIG MISTAKE because sour cream is not the same as Swiss cheese, in case you were wondering.

I thought swapping things out would be no big deal. And yet… the soup wasn’t good. We threw it out and ordered pizza.

Substituting soup ingredients is one thing.

Substituting our own thinking, rules, values, and best practices for God’s gospel of grace is a big, life-altering problem.

Yet this substitution is the reality for many of us Try-Hard Girls. Instead of living a life of God’s grace, we live a life of doing more, rule following, and cranking up the willpower.

What is God’s gospel of grace?

God’s gospel of grace says He saves those who put their trust in Him. Simple. Free. Relational. Hope-giving and grace-abounding. Yet God’s gospel seems too easy so we create our own versions.

Which one of these three false “gospels” are you living under today?

1. The gospel of doing more and trying harder

The gospel of doing more and trying harder preaches that we just need to get our act together, and that our real issue is that we aren’t trying hard enough. This gospel says that God isn’t in control so everything depends on us. It tells us that grace is for slackers and that life is really about progress and getting things done.

When we practice this gospel, life is precarious because our value is based on what we do. We end up exhausted.

2. The gospel of rule-following

The gospel of rule-following gives us a list of demands or “shoulds” that tell us what it takes to be a good person, a.k.a. someone who meets everyone expectations. We either measure up to this arbitrary list or we don’t.

Some of the “shoulds” I believed under this gospel were that “I should:”

• bring the new mom dinner.
• volunteer every time I’m asked.
• make dinner from scratch.
• be a better friend.

Now, some of us love rules because they provide an objective measure to see how well we’re doing, and a mechanism to evaluate how not-so-good others are doing.

But we also hate rules because they cause us shame and remind us that we aren’t perfect. If we don’t follow the rules or if we’re corrected, we spiral quickly. We berate ourselves that we should have known better, that we are horrible people, and that we have got to get it together… quickly.

When we practice this gospel, life is legalistic and demanding. We become judgmental of ourselves and others under this gospel.

3. The gospel of willpower.

The gospel of willpower tells us to just stop doing the problem behavior and to start relying on ourselves to get things done. Willpower uses phrases like “I will do this from now on“ or ”I will never do that again.” It whispers that we don’t need to trust in Jesus because we’re pulling up our bootstraps and have life under control.

Willpower tells us to:

• just stop yelling at our kids.
• start working out more.
• stop eating the second helping.
• start getting up earlier for our quiet time.
• just get it together.

When we practice this gospel, life is narrow and harsh. We feel tightly-wound.

These three false gospels aren’t good news at all.

Only God’s gospel of grace is good news.

What if we believed God’s true gospel that:

• God provides His own righteousness for you and me, who possess no true righteousness of our own? (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• God gives His divine righteousness freely by His grace? (Romans 3:22)
• the righteousness God graciously provides becomes yours through faith alone? (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• because of God’s grace, the Lord Jesus Christ died for His people to redeem us from our sin? (1 Peter 3:18)

Friends, let’s preach the gospel to ourselves: that Jesus’ last words on the cross weren’t “Make me proud.”

Let’s remember that Jesus didn’t endure our sin and shame and then tell us to get it together and get to work.

His last words to us were “It is finished.” His words to us were our signal that everything is taken care of for our salvation. We can’t add anything to His saving work.

What if we internalized His gospel of grace, which invites us to rejoice in what He’s already done? His message tells us that God is already pleased with us and there’s nothing we can do to make Him love us more.

Soooooo…. how can we live out the gospel of grace in our real lives?

I mean as a mama, how do you live out the gracious gospel as you make dinner, pick up kids from carpool, and review homework?

It all starts with a mindset shift.

You and I must shift our worldview that we’re not meant to be God: all-knowing, all-powerful, and always in control. The truth is that you and I are insufficient to do life on our own, no matter how easy, small, or routine life may seem to us.

Your human nature does not have the capacity to produce divine grace.

Let’s remember that the real gospel isn’t giving God our resume of how hard you’ve tried so you can earn His favor. The real gospel is not based on how much you do or how hard you try.

Let’s remember that the real gospel IS NOT “be good so you can feel good and God will give you goodies.” The real gospel is not based on your ability to follow rules.

Let’s remember that the real gospel isn’t about telling yourself that you can stop sinning and start being good once you really focus. The real gospel is based solely on the cross and not promises you make to yourself.

God’s gospel of grace is the best gospel.

Substituting one ingredient for another doesn’t have any major consequences, but when we substitute our version of the “gospel” for God’s true gospel of grace, we’re exhausted, legalistic, and harsh.

Ask God to give you what you need to accept His gospel of grace where you are, as you are. He will do it.

Pin it for later: