Is Working Hard on My Spiritual Growth Legalism?

One of the reasons many Christians don’t grow is because they’ve bought into a faulty framework that equates hard work with legalism.

Maybe they’ve grown up in a strict Christian setting that had a lot of dos and don’ts. As a result, any time they hear things like “be disciplined,” “live modestly,” and “steer clear of addictive habits,” their hair stands up on end. Never again, they think to themselves. Never again will I fall for something like that. I enjoy my freedom in Christ!

But this is a clear case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Yes, Paul is clear in Ephesians 2:8-9 when it says, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.” There is nothing anyone can do that will save them.

However, Paul’s point isn’t that Christians should do no works. It’s that they mustn’t do those works with the mindset that they are somehow earning their salvation. As James 2:17 says, “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.”

Grace and hard work are not opposing concepts. As Dallas Willard wrote, “Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning.”[1]

So, how do you work on your spiritual growth without falling into the trap of legalism? Here's the answer.

Stop Playing For And Start Playing From the Favor of God

For ten years, I served as a hockey referee for kids, youth, and adult levels. Most teams were great, but occasionally, I’d see a team come in that was wound up tight. Before the opening faceoff, they were banging their sticks, and it was clear I was in for a long night.

What I quickly realized was that the players on the ice were usually an extension of the coaches on the bench. If the head coach and the assistants were calm and collected, the team was calm and collected. But if they were wound up, arguing after every whistle, their players—regardless of how young—would do the same.

The teams that were the most wound up were usually the ones that took the most dumb penalties and caused more self-harm than good. But the teams that stuck to their game plan and followed a disciplined structure played well.

Why? Because the wound-up players were playing for their coach’s approval, while the relaxed players were playing from their coach’s approval. As a result, they were relaxed, confident, and made good plays under pressure.

The problem with too many Christians is they spend so much time playing the game of life for God’s approval rather than recognizing who they are in him and playing from that reality.

Christians that play from the favor of God have a calmness about them. They’re not always wound up over the little things. They don’t see God as some grand taskmaster who is waiting for them to slip up. Instead, they have this inner confidence that they are loved by God and known by him.

So, How Do You Play From Rather Than For God’s Favor? 

It all starts with motivation.

How much do you love God? Not, how much are you doing for God? Not, how hard are you working to earn his approval? But how much do you love him?

The reason most Christians struggle is not because they have a will problem; it’s because they have a love problem. Something hasn’t clicked, and they haven’t grasped the depth of Christ’s love for them.

As someone who is more of a Gary Chapman Acts of Service kind of guy, there have been times in my marriage when my wife Janan says, “Ezra, I don’t feel like we’re close.” When she does, my knee-jerk response is, “What do you mean? I cleaned the house, took care of the kids, and fed the dog. I can only do so much!”

And just as those words leave my mouth, I realize I’ve missed the point. Marital intimacy isn’t based on my list of good works. It’s based on true love. A love that says, “I like being with you,” and “I want to spend more time with you.”

Is this how you feel about God? If not, it can be. God isn’t impressed with your list of accomplishments. All he wants is your heart.

When he has this, that’s when you work from a position of health. You stop playing for and start playing from. 

Sunday Christians play for God’s favor. Monday Christians play from his favor.

Be a Monday Christian.

[1] Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 254.