Y’all… another try-hard girl dispenses common-sense grace! I’m so excited to share my sweet friend Katie M. Reid with you because she encourages us to find grace in the unraveling of life. She’s a wife, mom to five loud children, and a fan of cut-to-the-chase conversations over iced tea. She is also a national speaker and author of “Made Like Martha,” which releases this month!

How did you move away from performing for your worth and toward receiving grace?

The good (yet surprising) news for try-hard gals like me is that: moving away from performing and toward receiving grace wasn’t something I did, it was something God revealed. For decades, I tried to prove my worth through working hard, striving to be enough on my own efforts, yet through a dusty, living room revelation God showed me that, “Grace is a gift to be received, not a prize to be earned.”

God helped me do what I could not do on my own strength and know-how… to understand grace in a way that freed my striving soul to live settled and secure, without compromising my God-given wiring to work.

Try-hard girls (a.k.a. achievers), get a bad rap for being bossy and perfectionistic. What would you say to the woman who’s wired to achieve that reminds her that God created her to be a woman of action?

Ephesians 2:8–10 (NIV) is great encouragement for achievers:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Here we see that we are saved by grace, not works, yet there are good works for us to do — in fact those works have been prepared beforehand. We are His dependable daughters (and that is a good thing) but we don’t have to have an hour-long quiet time to be adored nor wear ourselves out to be worthy.

How has God helped you trust His grace and love for you?

When I realized Jesus loved Martha (see John 11:5) it helped me embrace my get-it-done temperament instead of trying to rid myself of it. When I understood that He wired Martha to work, it gave me freedom to quit apologizing for being made that way.

I stopped hearing Jesus’s words to Martha (in Luke 10:41–42) as a scolding and more as an invitation to rest within, even while she worked. I realized that He wasn’t asking her to be Mary, but to receive His love instead of strive for it. He didn’t ask her to stop serving, but invited her to do so from a place of peace, knowing her position in His heart was secure.

When I understood Jesus loved me as is, it relieved such a heavy burden… and I was able to trust His grace and love more.

What counsel would you give to the woman who wants to live a life of grace, but is having a hard time moving away from doing all-the-things, in an attempt to prove her value?

Your worth was cemented into your cells long before you could lift a finger or complete a line item on your to-do list. Your value comes from the fact that God made you, not that you have made yourself.

My brother has Down Syndrome yet his worth is not dependent on his productivity and neither is yours or mine. I have a friend with chronic illness who can’t do all she wants to do but she’s just as beloved as you are and I am.

We are made in Christ’s image, that alone is where our worth comes from. We are humans not machines. We are dependent on God to sustain us…our very breath comes from Him. It’s not all up to us. What freedom!

What’s one practical piece of advice a try-hard girl could implement today to help her rest in the truth that she’s one of God’s daughters?

Something that helps me rest in being one of God’s daughter is to remember these truths from the Beloved Daughter’s Decree:

I am loved: Jesus’s love has already been proven, so I can stop trying to prove myself.

I am enough because Jesus is enough: Perfection is not up to me, it is in me…and His name is Jesus.

I choose to rest in Christ’s sufficiency: God is working even when I am not.

You can find Katie:

You can enter to win a copy of “Made Like Martha” by commenting below. One person will be chosen at random at 9 p.m. CST on Friday, 7/20/2018 to win one copy of Katie’s brand-new book! The winner will be notified via email.

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