Stop Performing and Start Worshiping

“Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ” – Romans 1:5-6

Romans 1:5–6 opens the curtain on a central truth: Jesus came not just to teach or to heal—but to call us. The God of heaven came close to extend grace, the kind we could never earn or even seek on our own. Paul reminds us that our relationship with Christ begins not with our pursuit, but His. It’s like a shepherd searching for a lost sheep—not waiting for it to find its way home, but stepping into the wilderness and calling it by name. Isaiah 65:1 echoes this beautifully: “I was found by those who did not seek Me.” Jesus didn’t just come for those who knew to look—He came for all, calling out, “Here I am,” to the wandering, the weary, and the unaware.

Before Paul teaches on Christian living, he rewinds to the foundation—grace. It’s the spiritual oxygen of our faith, the breath that revives us from death to life. Imagine a rescue diver plunging deep into dark waters for someone unconscious. That’s grace. Not a hand reaching up—but a Savior reaching down. Paul goes through gospel essentials to show that this grace, once received, changes everything. And it’s not passive—it’s purposeful. Jesus calls us to “obedience to the faith” (Rom. 1:5), meaning that grace isn’t just a pardon—it’s a summons to follow, trust, and live differently.

So how might we respond? By remembering that we didn’t find God—He found us. When we hold on to that truth, we stop performing and start worshiping. We stop comparing and start belonging. Grace isn’t just our starting point; it’s our everyday fuel. Take time today to thank Him—not for what you’ve done, but for what He’s done to reach you. And live like someone who’s been called by name into a purpose far greater than your own.

“It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our death beds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us in the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the Grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones