Don't Bargain

No contracts necessary

One of the hardest lessons of my adult life has been that perfection does nothing for your faith. And that no amount of good deeds, good behavior, etc., earns you any kind of privilege or further salvation.

No one can be more saved than someone else.

No one can hold more favor with God because of the good deeds they’ve done throughout their life.

I’m not saying I would deserve anywhere near the “most” favor, if that was a thing, and I’m not saying that I don’t often make mistakes. But growing up I felt a desperate need to always do everything right, to never get in trouble, to try to be the bigger person, to be kind, to always always always do good, if not great.

While this goal might have been noble, it did more to worry me about making mistakes than it did reward me for doing good deeds. I often caught myself believing that if I made mistakes, if I got in trouble, if I failed, then it would be reason for punishment from God. It would be proof of why prayers weren’t answered and reason for why I had to do better, more. I had to be perfect, I thought, because that is what kept God interested in me.

It has been both a relief and a let down to learn this isn’t true.

A relief because, as I’ve learned over and over, I am never going to be perfect, and a let down because I can’t help but feel like I wasted all that time worrying about something God had already taken care of.

Today, in my Bible reading I was brought to Luke 11.

You might have heard verse 9, which says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

In verse 10, the Message translation says, “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct.”

This struck a familiar chord in me, calling out that tendency to reach for perfection. Sometimes it can take the shape of a bargain. When we are doing good things, trying to remain on our best behavior, doing everything we can to avoid mistakes and trouble, we can fall victim to resentment and bitterness, thinking, “God, I have done ______ so why don’t I have ________.”

Or sometimes these bargains might look like, “Okay God, I will go to church this week if you _______.”

But this is simply not how God works—thank goodness.

He is a not a God that awards points and gold stars. He doesn’t tally up good deeds like books in a read-a-thon. You cannot do anything to make yourself more loved by God, or to earn yourself a bigger house in heaven.

God loves you because you are and will always be imperfect. And he doesn’t accept bargains because he knows that, if we really wanted to earn our salvation, we never could. But he sees when we open our hearts to him, when we sit down and really listen for his voice, when we cry out and honestly ask for what we need.

He doesn’t need terms for a prayer, he doesn’t accept quid-pro-quos.

God is a good God because he knows what we need when we need it, and he hears the prayers we pray.

So I encourage you today, to not only ask, seek, and knock, but to be direct and stop bargaining. God knows you’re not perfect, and he doesn’t need you to be. Allow yourself to marvel at the mercy and grace God gives to you today, free of charge, no contract necessary.