Topic : Performance

The other day I came home from work to find a plate of peanut butter snack bars on the kitchen counter. Accompanying the delectables was a note from my 12-year-old daughter Melissa to her grandparents. “Dear Grandma and Grandpa, I made these for you. Love, Melissa.”

No one told her to do this. She didn’t have to. She just did it.

But why? Was Melissa trying make sure that they loved her? Was she trying to win Brownie points (well, snack-bar points) with her grandparents'

No she cooked up this little confectionery delight just to show her grandparents she loves them. It was evidence of their close relationship. She did it because she is their granddaughter, not to somehow earn the right to be their granddaughter.

That’s how it is with the good works we should do as followers of Jesus Christ. We don’t do good works so we can win a place in heaven. Rather, our good deeds show evidence of our salvation and faith in Christ.

Jesus did all the work of providing salvation. But we still have to work. Why? Not to win His favor but to show our love. It’s an outpouring of a grateful heart. - JDB

Our Daily Bread, Sept.-Nov., 1997, page for Sept. 7

What gets pictured gets done
What gets trained gets done
What gets modeled gets done
What gets measured gets done
What gets praised gets done
What gets budgeted gets done

Gary L. McIntosh, The Exodus Principle Quoted in Lifeline, Men’s Life, Grand Rapids, MI, Fall, 1996

David Letterman says the single most powerful motivating force in his life is a desire to succeed and prevail. He explains how he feels about doing “Late Show With David Letterman”:

Every night you’re trying to prove your self-worth. It’s like meeting your girlfriend’s family for the first time. You want to be the absolute best, wittiest, smartest, most charming, best-smelling version of yourself. If I can make people enjoy the experience and have a higher regard for me when I’m finished, it makes me feel like an entire person. If I’ve come short of that, I’m not happy. How things go for me every night is how I feel about myself for the next 24 hours. Because I’m not playing a character—I’m trying to give you the best version of myself.

Dotson Rader in Parade, quoted in Reader’s Digest, p. 113

I discovered I didn’t feel worth a damn, and certainly not worthy of love, unless I was accomplishing something. I suddenly realized I have never felt I could be loved just for being.

Oprah Winfrey, Talk-show host. Good Housekeeping, Sept., 1991, p. 63

My drive in life is from this horrible fear of being mediocre. that’s always been pushing me, pushing me. Because even though I’ve become somebody, I still have to prove that I’m SOMEBODY. My struggle has never ended, and it probably never will.

Madonna, quoted from Vogue, in What Jesus Would Say, by Lee Strobel

I had no idea who I was, or what I could be away from tennis,” says Christ Evert, recalling the final years of her career. “I was depressed and afraid because so much of my life had been defined by my being a tennis champion. I was completely lost. Winning made me feel like I was somebody. It made me feel pretty. It was like being hooked on a drug. I needed the wins, the applause, in order to have an identity.

Chris Evert, retired tennis star. Good Housekeeping, October 1990, pp. 87-88