Still Trying To Earn What’s Already Yours?

Many of us love the satisfaction of work—checking boxes, finishing tasks, measuring progress. But that same drive to achieve, impress, or perform can quietly slip into our relationship with God.

In Jesus, freedom and belonging are simple and complete. Yet the temptation is to add conditions, as if love and acceptance must be earned. Our faith becomes just another area where we need to prove something.

Some of us grew up in a very rule-oriented Christian tradition, feeling like spiritual success was tied to how well you followed the rules, how reverent you were, and how obedient you could be. Our culture often measures us by our success in school, sports, relationships, work.

Somehow we learn: “You don’t quite measure up.” We come to believe we have to perform our way into God’s approval and earn our place in His family.

Paul addresses this in his letter to the Galatians. He reminds them of Abraham, the father of Israel, who “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Galatians 3:6). This trust came before the law, before commandments or rituals. Abraham’s standing with God was not achieved by flawless behavior—it was granted through faith.

If Abraham didn’t earn God’s favor through performance, why do so many still try?

Paul’s letter to the Galatians teaches us faith doesn’t start with performance. It starts with belief.

Paul brings up Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. He reminds us that “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Galatians 3:6). That moment of faith came before the law was given, before any commandments or rituals were required.

The law wasn’t even on the scene yet. Abraham simply trusted God—and that was enough.

If Abraham didn’t earn God’s favor through behavior, why do we keep trying to?

Sometimes, it can feel like life is about knowing how to play the game– or feeling set up to fail when we don’t know how. And that’s how many of us start to feel about God and faith.

We read all these rules, all these standards, and think, Was I set up to fail from the start? No matter how good we try to be, we still fall short. The finish line keeps moving. The bar keeps rising. The critiques never stop.

Paul knew this frustration. That’s why he writes that “all who rely on the law are under a curse” (Galatians 3:10). The law required perfection, and nobody could live up to it.

But Paul doesn’t stop there. He offers hope: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us”(Galatians 3:13). Jesus took the weight of our inability to measure up, and bore it on the cross.

It’s a complete reversal of how we think life works. His life, death, and resurrection change the equation entirely. We are not earning anything—we are receiving everything.

Paul shifts the metaphor to something we can understand: inheritance. When someone leaves you an inheritance, you don’t earn it. You don’t prove your worth. You simply receive it.

Even if the will was written decades ago, your name on that document secures your future. The law, Paul says, was like a trustee—someone managing the inheritance until the rightful heirs came of age. The law was never the inheritance. It was a placeholder.
When Jesus came, He made us ready. Through faith in Him, we come of age. We get the full inheritance.

You’re already listed as an heir.

So why are we still trying to earn what’s already ours? Why do we keep jumping through hoops, chasing spiritual success like a performance review?

We’ve been invited into God’s family not because of what we’ve done but because of what Jesus has done. His performance earned what we could never achieve—and then He handed it to us as a gift.

And here’s the kicker: gifts can’t be earned. They can only be accepted.

Let’s slow down for a moment. Wherever you are in your faith journey, here are three questions to consider:

• Where am I trying to prove myself to God? Think about the areas where you still feel pressure to “get it right” spiritually. What would it look like to let go of that?
• What does it mean to live like I’m already accepted? How would your rhythms change—your prayer life, your work life, your relationships—if you truly believed you had nothing to prove?
• Am I giving others the same grace I’ve received?  It’s easy to hold others to standards we no longer apply to ourselves. But faith invites us to offer others the same unearned love we’ve been given.

Here’s what it comes down to: the promise was always the point. Not your performance. Not your perfection.

God’s promise to Abraham still stands, and through Christ, it extends to you and me. It's not conditional. It doesn't hinge on your best day—or your worst. It was always a promise made out of God’s love and fulfilled by God’s faithfulness.

So the question isn’t “Have I done enough?” It’s “Will I receive what’s already been given?”