Mighty: Thriving in a High-Performance World Without Losing Your SoulSample

# From Losing Trade to Power, Purpose, and Presence In Day 1, we learned how the performance-driven world is an insatiable and seductive false god. Many men, even Christian men — including pastors and ministers — sacrifice their marriages, their children, their health, even their relationship with God on the altar of performance. They are paying the wrong price for the wrong rewards. They are making losing trades — trades that span all areas of life and may not appear to be poor decisions until many years later. ## The Only Winning Trade The Gospel represents the opposite of the typical trade. The transaction of grace is one that could never happen based on the world’s expectations of performance. Christ gives us everything in the Kingdom and we offer up less than nothing . Despite our repeated and inevitable failure to live up to the only performance metric that should matter — righteousness before God — Jesus takes that punishment fully upon himself. By our faith alone, Christ gives us all the rewards through sovereign grace. He exchanges the burden of performance for true rest by sacrificing His life. > for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24) Here’s the challenge: most men have difficulty applying something which happened in the past and that benefits us in the future in order to change our minds in the present . The performance-driven man expects immediate results. So what if the alternative could really be experienced right now? ## A Different Reality When I read Scripture, I realize there is an alternative to a life driven by performance. Recognizing and believing in this alternative is the first step to change. Until you know your destination and are grounded in Truth, you will be tossed by whatever blows your way: > Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14) One Gospel-based detour from the performance-driven life is a life with Power , Purpose and Presence . ### Power Most people define “power” as the world does, something that oppresses others and is often gained by clawing one’s way to the top. This type of power appeals to the flesh. The lack of power often causes anxiety, especially at work. The quest for more power, on the other hand, can lead to burnout and damaged relationships. Despite the challenges of desiring and acquiring the world’s power, the Christian life is not a powerless one: > For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7) This power comes from Christ, the one with power over death itself. Imagine being able to face down the challenges in life with this same type of spiritual power. But power — even one based in God’s grace — is not sufficient. ### Purpose When I get stressed in a performance-driven environment, it’s often because my identity is associated with the outcome: acceptance at work, financial rewards, or prestige. Many men lose their identity, forgetting who they are: > “For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.” (James 1:23-24 NLT) One way to anchor your identity is by clarifying your purpose. Without knowing your true purpose, performance will fill that vacuum by becoming your purpose. ### Presence Power and Purpose are both possible without the Gospel. God's Presence, however, gives peace and rest amidst the tumult that’s not possible without a savior.  It’s both the most overlooked and the most valuable of the three. God’s presence can fill your tank in way no mere provision, protection, or position can: > That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. (Acts 3:20-21) The performance-driven mindset can easily miss just how draining the fleshly way of life can be. God's Presence, however, refreshes the soul in a way nothing else can. Now that we know the new destination — the detour from the performance-driven path — [ the question that remains is How ](https://px.ignite-sf.com/mighty-youversion-bonus) ? I’ll share this in Day 3 of this devotional.