I Exhausted Myself Trying to Be a Good Christian. God Said Stop

A Grape Vine - Image by iStock

What if everything you've been taught about spiritual maturity is backwards?

What if God doesn't want you to try harder—He wants you to stop trying and start abiding?

I've spent too many days pushing, striving, white-knuckling my way through, only to end up empty and worn out.

Who can identify?

When faith feels like heavy lifting, this gentle truth is freedom: God's life imparted—His power, love, and peace flowing through ordinary us.

The Exhaustion I Knew

Self-effort looked so right. More prayer. Less sin. Serve better. Be stronger.

But it fizzled fast, leaving me with a load of guilt and wondering why I couldn't measure up.

Then I saw something that changed everything: Jesus doesn't just save us from sin's penalty—He gives us His life right now, today.

"For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Romans 5:10 NKJV)

Not me powering up. Him living out—through me.

The Shift That Changed Everything

For years, I thought spiritual maturity meant trying harder. If I could just pray more, read my Bible longer, serve more faithfully—then I'd finally "arrive."

But God wasn't asking me to work harder. He was inviting me to stop striving and start abiding.

There's a massive difference between the two.

Striving says, "I've got to produce fruit for God." Abiding says, "His life in me produces the fruit."

One exhausts. The other sustains.

Like a Branch on the Vine

Jesus said it so simply in John 15, "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

A branch doesn't have to work hard to produce fruit. It doesn't strain or stress or try to manufacture grapes.

It just stays connected to the vine, and the life flows through it. The fruit appears naturally because of the life source.

That's the picture Jesus gave us. Stay connected. Let His life flow. The fruit will come.

My daily prayer became this simple surrender: "Lord, Your life in me today. Not my efforts—Your life."

The Rest That's Real

When we live from His imparted life, everything shifts.

No more burnout from trying to be good enough.

Joy, patience, kindness, self-control—they're His fruit, not something we force or fake.

Everyday moments—the hard conversations, the mundane tasks, the frustrations—become opportunities for His life to show up.

It's not that we stop doing things. We still pray, serve, love, obey. But now we're doing it from His life in us, not from our own depleted reserves.

It's like the difference between pushing a car uphill and driving it with a full tank. One is exhausting. The other actually gets you somewhere.

Open to Him Now

Friend, you were designed for this life—imparted, not manufactured. Free, not forced.

His life is already in you if you belong to Christ. The question isn't "How do I get it?" but "Will I yield to it?"

Let Him fill you today. Not with more rules or shoulds, but with His presence, His power, His peace.

You don't have to try harder. You just have to abide closer.

Reflection Questions

Take a moment and ask the Lord:

1. Where have I been trying in my own strength? What feels tiring or forced?
   

2. What if His life is already flowing through me right now—how can I abide instead of strive?
   

3. Holy Spirit, enable me to rest in You this very moment. What do You want to do through me today that only Your life can accomplish?
   

Love, Cindy

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