God didn’t create us to jump through hoops:
- Attend church? Check.
- Get an education? Check.
- Be part of a family? Check.
- Get a job? Check.
God created you for relationship. Relationship with others and relationship with Him. Unlike many teachers, coaches, and friends, God is not into favorites based on what you do, even if you’re doing it for Him. He emphasizes relationships, not accomplishments.
God will respond to you whether you’re in a relationship with Him or not. To be honest, we’re always in a relationship with Him. He’s our Creator, and we can’t get away from that no matter how much we deny it.
Instead of checking things off our lists, we can engage with and respond to Him personally. And that means we remain and grow in our relationship with Him. We don’t respond for a specific result or response. We can’t show compassion because it makes us feel good or exercise humility because it looks good on us. Living out God’s characteristics aren’t about getting a desired result or response but remaining and growing in relationship with God. To focus on a response and result is a futile use of our time and efforts. Staying in a relationship with God should always be our motivation and foundation.
The purpose of humility is to acknowledge God for who he is, establishing and maintaining a proper relationship with him. The result of humility is acknowledging God for who he is, establishing and maintaining a proper relationship with him. Humility is about our relationship with God. Obedience is about our relationship with God. So, really, we can minimize our checklist to one thing: our relationship with God.
Put it first, and it keeps everything else in perspective.
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Pure Purpose 