Worship verses Performance

In the last year I've been really inspired by other people's blogs and thought that it would be a good place to put down some of my own thoughts, so I don't forget! Also, I hope that it blesses those who read it. So here goes nothing!

It is the beginning of my LAST semester of college. This is hard to believe, I always knew I would graduate college, but for some reason was never able to picture the ending. Now it is here and it is more stressful than I ever imagined. Lately it has felt like all this stress has been taking over my brain and I am in survival mode instead of being able to thrive. I've had so many things that I've been wanting to work on between me and God lately, but it just hasn't happened because I have been so consumed with school and work.This has been bothering me tremendously lately and I have been thinking and praying about it a lot. For some reason everything that I had been reading in the bible and in my devotional have been somewhat processed in my head but definitely did not make it to my heart. It was so stressful trying to make changes on my own, even when I knew that was not possible with the kinds of things I was struggling with. I knew that I needed to ask for God's help and I had, but I would simply ask God for self control, or patience, or peace, instead of looking to the root of all those things.

Today I realized something that God taught me a long time ago that I had forgotten. (funny how that happens...) The core of every pure intention is Jesus. It made me realize that yes, I do love God, and yes I do want to honor him with my actions and words, but I had been failing to do that. Lately I had been praying to stop certain behaviors and not having the heart behind it to worship God with my actions or thoughts, but simply to feel like I was pleasing God and earning his grace. Which is never true, we can not earn grace, and we need to be careful to not perform for God, rather than worship him with our actions.

In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says " God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it."

Just Thought I would share somethings God is teaching me! Hope it encourages you as well. Look to God FIRST and all else will be put into place.

Keep seeking:)

-Hannah

Proverbs 3:5