Greater Performance

Performance counts. It isn’t a bad thing, but an unhealthy point of view as a competitor can produce bad habits, wrong motivations and unnecessary pressures. The good news is that your identity in Christ gives you a new way to perform.

When you have found your new identity in Christ, it will help you unlock your full potential and lead to a greater performance for His glory. You are now playing for Someone, not something.

If we feel it’s up to us to win a game, carry our team or live up to the social hype or media pressure, the foundation of our identity begins to crack. It’s an impossible standard to live up to and creates a false sense of success that makes our performance impossible to keep up. Understanding that God is the only person they truly need to please can certainly bring peace, joy and freedom from fear. How do we play like this?

LOSING TO WIN

When your identity is in Christ, you are no longer performing for yourself, your coach, your family or your friends. The only true voice we need to listen to is God’s. He says we are secure as His son or daughter, and we can be confident in this. He has already said we are enough through Christ, and no one can change that. Not a coach, a teammate, the newspaper or anything else. Once you only compete for Him, others can see Christ working through you as an athlete.

That’s why it’s so important to stay connected to “the vine” and remain in Christ (John 15:5). But that also means you must sacrifice your wants and plans and commit your life to Jesus. It may not always make sense, but for the athlete, it’s like losing to win.

“’The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.’” -John 12:25

Giving your life to Christ and staying connected to Him might mean giving up some things that are holding you back or keeping you from experiencing the fullness of a life-changing relationship with God. But what you will receive in return is so much greater than anything the world can offer. You will have the power of Christ inside of you and be able to reach your fullest potential to perform for His glory. 

You give up to gain something greater. 

STAY CONNECTED

Jesus shares intimate details with His disciples on how to remain intimately connected with Him for both relationship and ministry. Where He is, His disciples should also desire to be, leaning closer and digging deeper to understand the heart of the Father through connection with the Son.

“’I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.’” -John 15:5

When we surrender and stay connected to the Vine, Jesus enables us with:

Greater Fuel. As an athlete, you might be looking for nutritional and healthy ways to unlock your full potential. But with God, there is a greater fuel that will empower your body, mind and spirit!

“’I am the bread of life,’ Jesus told them. ‘No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.’” -John 6:35 

Greater Freedom. Everybody has expectations for yourself as an athlete—including you! It can be especially easy to feel trapped by the world’s expectations for your life. But trusting God’s plan and embracing your identity in Christ will allow you to stay untangled and free to do your best no matter what.

“So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” -John 8:36

Greater Fruit. It’s hard to avoid the performance trap when everyone is consumed with wins, individual stats and public image. But when you are striving to follow Jesus, He wants to produce a different kind of fruit (outcome or result) that will last forever.

“My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” —John 15:8

Remember: Your new identity in Christ gives you a new way to perform. We don’t have to make a show to be seen; our new way to play is reminding others who it’s about.

“’He must increase, but I must decrease.’” -John 3:30

Our greater performance is based not on what we can do ourselves, but of full surrender in faith to the One who enables and enacts to use our status as His son or daughter in our lives and the way we compete.