Coming first in class was a big deal. And for me, because of the aggressive home tutoring plan my dad personally ran, it came somewhat easy. As I grew up, even going into high school and the university, being an excellent performer academically became an expected norm for me.

Shockingly, without knowing, I took this aggressive desire to perform into my Christian faith. I went through the list of expectations on what makes a strong Christian and made the items on that list my personal life targets...and boy! Did I fail woefully. This is because, the foundations of Christianity are not based on performance.

We have a God that sent His Son, Jesus, simply because He knew us to be utter failures. We suck at life, genuinely, and that was the sole purpose of the sacrifice. We are poorly equipped to meet God's and life's standards, and that is why He brought Jesus to tick all the boxes on our behalf.

So, on the days when I am a terrible Christian and I feel like I let myself down, it takes a whole lot to get out of my funk. But once in a while, in a devotional or a morning prayer, or in a message, I am reminded that I am not on trial. I have a God that has approved of me already, and this empowers me to try again, no scratch that...this empowers me to rest on Jesus.

So today I implore you to rest on Jesus as well. Stop trying to be the high performing individual at life. Jesus is more than capable of outperforming you. Choose life, choose rest and choose to not condemn yourself.

You are not a failure. You are not a terrible person or a disappointing Christian. Simply because, you are not on trial...