One of the most freeing things God ever showed me came through a verse I had read past for years. Job said, I made a covenant with mine eyes. He was telling God how careful he had been. He did not look at women the wrong way. He kept himself pure. He did everything right.
And the Lord spoke to my heart and said, I do not want a covenant with your eyes. I want a covenant with your heart.
That is the difference between religion and relationship. Religion keeps a list on the outside. Relationship gives God the inside. You can keep every rule and still keep God at arm’s length. Job did. He was so busy with his works that he never checked his heart.
I have to be honest with you, because this Word got me too. I would find myself worrying. Did I pray enough today? Did I read my Bible? I prayed, but did I remember to thank Him? I was measuring my relationship with God like a scorecard.
And God said to me, I am not interested in your works. I am interested in your heart. If I am in your heart, you will pray. If I am in your heart, you will love Me. You can lock yourself in your house, never watch television, put on a robe, and take communion every day, and that still is not your righteousness. I am your righteousness.
That is exactly what the Scripture says. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Not by works, lest any man should boast. Our own righteousness, apart from Him, is as filthy rags. You cannot pray enough, fast enough, give enough, or serve enough to earn it. It is free. It is a gift. It was settled at the cross.
If Jesus did not do it all, then the cross was not enough, and we know that is not true. He handled everything. We cannot add to it, and we cannot crucify Him again by trying to earn what He already paid for.
So what about fasting and prayer and good works? They matter. But they are not payment. Fasting does not change God’s mind. It quiets your flesh so you can hear Him. Prayer does not buy His attention. It is how you enjoy it. Good works are the fruit of a heart that belongs to Him, not the price of admission.
Some people hear this and worry it gives permission to live any way we want. It does not. Grace is not permission to live loosely. It is freedom to keep your eyes on God instead of on yourself. When your heart belongs to Him, you want to please Him, not to earn anything, but because you love Him.
You are going to have days when your flesh does not cooperate. You will say something you wish you had not said. You will fall short. When that happens, go to God, make it right, and keep going. Your righteousness never depended on your best day, so it does not collapse on your worst one.
Think about what this does to the way you walk through a day. When righteousness is a performance, you are always anxious, always checking, always wondering if you did enough. When righteousness is a gift, you can breathe. You can serve because you want to, not because you have to. You can give without keeping score. You can rest without feeling guilty. That is the life Jesus paid for, and it is available to you right now.
Here is what I want you to do this week. Every time you catch yourself measuring, stop and say it out loud. My righteousness is a gift from God. Then rest in it.
You do not have to perform for God. You get to trust Him.
Dr. Connie Williams is the founder of Connie Williams Ministries, Inc., a prophetic teaching and coaching ministry of over 35 years. Join the prophetic community at https://community.drconniewilliams.org
