The Dangers of Striving – Sunday Service

The greatest battle for a Christian is moving past the exhausting cycle of striving—trying to earn, achieve, or maintain what God has already freely gifted. The Model Prayer, the concept of divine guidance, and the understanding of true identity all converge on one profound truth: Victory is found in rest, not relentless effort.

This guide explores the dangers of continuing to strive and provides the biblical framework for entering God’s promised rest, transforming your spiritual life from performance-based exhaustion to grace-filled victory.

Part 1: The Divine Call to Rest, Not Strive

Jesus summarized the entirety of redemption with three words on the cross: “It is finished”. This single declaration means that the work of redemption, reconciliation, justification, and blessings are completed once and for all. The new covenant calls believers to rest in this finished work, contrasting sharply with the striving required under the law of Moses.

Understanding “Rest” in the New Covenant

Rest is not inactivity or taking a vacation; it is a profound spiritual posture.

• Rest is Alignment: To labor to enter the rest means engaging in the diligent effort to stay in alignment with the finished works of Jesus.
• Mindset Shift: Rest requires setting your mind to stay aligned with what Jesus did, saying, “He’s already made me righteous, so I’m going to settle myself right there”.
• The Labor of Rest: The effort (or labor) involved is participating in activities that maintain your mindset of alignment, such as spending time in Scripture, proper prayer, meditating in the word, associating with believers who are in alignment, and fasting.
• Reframing Spiritual Disciplines: Spiritual disciplines are not used to obtain what Jesus has finished (like prosperity, healing, or righteousness); they are used to maintain an alignment with what Jesus has finished.

The Danger of Striving

Striving is synonymous with the flesh, which desperately wants to earn something or prove something. When believers continue striving, they are unknowingly trying to accomplish what has already been achieved.

Part 2: The Core Conflict – Gift vs. Goal

The central issue is whether you view the blessings of God—righteousness, redemption, healing, and prosperity—as a gift or as a goal.

• Righteousness is a Gift: Righteousness is a gift that must be received; you do not earn it or work for it. If you work or strive for something, it is no longer a gift.
• Striving Begins with Goals: If righteousness, redemption, or prosperity are treated as a goal to be achieved, striving begins. You cannot take a gift and try to make it a goal.

The Superiority of Grace

Grace is out of proportion in superiority to transgression; God’s boundless reservoirs of grace empower believers to enjoy the dominion of life through the gift of righteousness.

• Universal Availability: Grace already belongs to mankind without their permission because it is a gift, available to every person who came into this world.
• Irrelevance of Performance: Your salvation, wholeness, deliverance, and righteousness are not a reward for good behavior. If salvation could be accomplished through any human action, there would be grounds for boasting, but it is purely a gift of God.

The Law vs. Grace Mindset

The law of works involves constant effort and focuses on duty and guilt-driven religious endeavors, which can snare individuals in the “cul-de-sac maze of self-righteousness”. Grace, conversely, reveals identity and relies on the faith of Christ.

Part 3: The Dangers of Continuing to Strive

Continuing to strive against the finished work of Christ carries severe emotional, spiritual, and relational consequences.

1. Striving Produces Burnout and Spiritual Frustration

Striving keeps believers stuck in a loop of frustration because they are “tirelessly busy with their own efforts to justify themselves while blatantly ignoring the fact that God already justified them in Christ”.

• The Loop: This loop includes feeling guilty, living under condemnation, and constantly feeling like one doesn’t measure up.
• Ignoring the Gift: In this attempt to establish one’s own righteousness, the striving believer admits that they have “no connection with the vine,” trying to be responsible for fruit that only comes from the union with Christ.

2. Striving Short Circuits Grace

Striving stops the flow of God’s grace in the area where a person is performing for what is already theirs. Christ becomes “of no effect” to those who pursue righteousness under the law, causing them to “fall from grace”.

• False Confidence: Striving causes believers to feel confident and close to God on days they pray, fast, or read enough, but to feel unworthy and distant on days they fail.
• Obligating God: The believer begins thinking that God’s approval rises or falls with their behavior, or that their obedience obligates God to heal, bless, or answer faster.
• Sin and Fellowship: Striving leads to the belief that sin cancels fellowship with God, making the person feel they must “clean up” or “behave well” for a certain period before God will draw near again.

3. Striving Numbs the Heart to Intimacy

Striving is the belief that one must earn, deserve, or maintain God’s closeness by performance. This posture prevents true intimacy with God.

• Taskmaster, Not Father: Under striving, God feels like a taskmaster and not a loving Father.
• Focus Shift: Striving shifts focus from beholding Jesus (which transforms us by the Spirit) to focusing on oneself and one’s efforts.
• Reintroducing Fear: Striving reintroduces fear—the fear of not doing enough, of losing favor, or being punished—which shuts down the heart. Perfect love, which is the foundation of grace, casts out all fear.
• Hardening the Heart: Striving makes the heart hard because it places the believer back under the law, which produces a hardening of the heart.

4. Striving Trains the Heart to Expect Rejection

When intimacy is based on performance, the heart subconsciously believes that if I fail, God will back away from me.

• Self-Protection: If failure equals distance, the heart will shut down to protect itself from the pain of perceived rejection. This explains why many stop attending church or withdraw from spiritual life.
• God’s Posture: The truth is, God is not watching to judge you; He’s watching to enjoy you. He wasn’t looking for Adam and Eve to judge them, but to enjoy fellowship.