Driven Achievement

Luke 18: ¹⁸ A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

¹⁹ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good – except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.”’

²¹ ‘All these I have kept since I was a boy,’ he said.

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“How do I become successful?” I asked a mentor, thinking he would impart some great words of wisdom. “Be early to every meeting” were the only words given to me. “What? This is a lesson on punctuality!?” I skeptically tried the suggestion and I found out he was right.

• There were times when I wanted to succeed.
• There were times when I wanted to get ahead.
• There were times when I desired to climb to the top.

JESUS is met by a rich man who may have been driven by achievements. The rich man used flattering words to put people at ease and called JESUS “good.” JESUS quickly sees through the flattery and says “Good is reserved only for GOD.” This confuses the achievement driven person.

• GOD says to me “I AM GOD alone.”
• GOD says to me “Your righteousness is like soiled diapers.”
• GOD says to me “Humble yourself. The first will be last and the last shall be first.”

GOD is a relationship, not an achievement. HE wants me to want to do the things HE says, not muscle through a set of rules that are sometime quite impossible to keep. GOD knows I need HIM and HE has given me grace beyond measure.

HE also knows that if I base our relationship on how “good” I think I am, I will set HIM up for failure. I can never be good enough to demand GOD to bow down to my desires. HE simply wants to know me and have me seek HIM as my GOD. I am glad I do not have to achieve HIM. HE is always with me.

• Do you look at GOD like HE wants you to “achieve” HIM?
• Are you exhausted thinking HE doesn’t love you because of some sin you recently did?
• Can you stop thinking of GOD negatively and simply have a loving relationship with HIM?