Why Achievements Don't Define You

In case you don’t know me, my top strength for StrengthsFinder is being an achiever. I love goals. I love accomplishing goals. I love to-dos. I love crossing things off my to-do list. I just really love achieving things.

And at times, that can be really good. But other times, it can get me in trouble. It can be really easy for me to get sucked into a constant state of needing to achieve.

We have this worldly obsession as humans to be seen and approved of. We want others to like us. We want others to know our name. We want others to see our accomplishments.

But when we start putting our worth into the things that we do for ourselves instead of focusing on who God created us to be for Him, we miss the point. 

One time when I was in elementary school I really didn’t want to eat the carrots and jello that were on my tray. But I had this really mean lunch lady who told me I had to eat them. Disappointed, I sat back in my spot with my tray in front of me and all the sudden had a brilliant idea. I was going to shove the carrots and jello I didn’t want to eat into my milk carton and hide them from her. But just to make sure I was seen and approved of, I decided to tell some of the big high school kids that were walking by… you know, really impress them.

But guess who walked right up behind me as I was showing off, telling these high schoolers about my big achievement… The mean lunch lady. 

Instead of just enjoying the food that was on my plate, I had to open my mouth and go tell the whole cafeteria about what awesome thing I had done to get their reaction and approval. This ultimately led me to a miserable recess and a lot of embarrassment.

And if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves in a constant cycle of needing to achieve to win the approval of other people. And I’m not saying it’s not good to achieve - I’m saying that we need to start thinking about who we’re achieving for. 

When we open our mouths and put our worth into what other people think of us and their reactions, we will always end up in trouble. It’s not about our accomplishments. It’s not about all the things we do and get praise for. We can’t hide behind the mask of achievement. 

Because God looks at the heart. He sees past all the things on your resume. I’m not saying some of those things aren’t important - I’m just asking you to remember what is most important.

When I was going to college I decided to write a book and donate some of the money to the children’s hospital. And what I thought was a great achievement I couldn’t wait to accomplish turned out to be the thing that revealed to me that no earthly victory will ever be enough. We’ll always want more. We’ll achieve one thing, but then another thing comes along and that one thing that we did achieve no longer matters and we’re onto another. 

I found myself doing that with my book. Instead of being excited about what God was doing with it, I became consumed on whether or not I was doing enough or selling enough. I was caught up in numbers and approval. I was trying to get the high schoolers attention instead of just enjoying the carrots and jello on my plate.

And in the midst of that at that point in my life, I read something one night that hit me. And this is what I read: “God is not nearly as interested or impressed with what we do as He is in why we do it. If we give to the poor in order to be seen by men, we lose our reward, because God is only pleased with good works done for the right reasons… Let us be sure that we do what we do for God and His glory because we love Him and want to be a blessing to other people - never to get anything! There have been times in my life when I have done things to get attention or gain acceptance. I often wondered why I wasn’t really happy, even though I was doing good things, but eventually I learned that true joy only comes from serving God with a pure heart.”

In a story in Luke 5:4-11, Jesus is teaching to a crowd by a Lake. He asks to borrow a boat that belongs to a man named Simon. He gets in the boat and starts teaching. And then when He’s finished, he looks at Simon and says something. This is what happens:

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Simon and his friends’ profession was to fish! That was their job! And yet, after the most successful day out on the water, potentially the greatest highlight of their career, they still chose to leave everything - all the fish - each one they caught - up on the shore. And they followed him. That’s like a big-time NFL player today winning the Super Bowl and leaving before He gets to celebrate.

And not only does Jesus bless them with an abundance of fish, but something happened before that to get them to that point. Simon first had to let Jesus into the boat. He had to say yes to Him, and let Him. And I just wonder what you would say if I asked you this question:

Are you allowing God into your boat? Are you saying yes to Him? Simon said yes, not expecting any miracle to take place, yet Jesus brought exactly what they had been waiting for all day. But notice what they did?

They wanted nothing more than fish all day. It’s all they could think about, yet when the fish came to them they realized that Jesus was greater. And they left everything and followed him instead. 

And I just hope and pray that you have that kind of relationship with Jesus. The kind that says, “God I just want to glorify you. I know sometimes I can get wrapped up in achieving for myself, but I pray that I always remember that you are greater. You are the point. Any worldly achievement will never be enough to fully satisfy. But you are.”

You may have so much anxiety and stress and fear because you don’t feel like you’re doing enough or accomplishing enough or that not enough people know your name or like you. You don’t feel like you have enough friends, you don’t feel like you’re worthy or good enough because you didn’t get an A on that test, you think you’re a failure because you didn’t make the starting lineup on the varsity squad.

But may I remind you that it’s not about you?

Quit trying to paint this picture of yourself and tell people how great you are and gain all these worldly things while missing out on this wonderful relationship you could have with God. Each time you put your worth into what you do for yourself, you forget who you are in Christ.

Matthew 16:26 says “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”

God’s got you on a journey. And He’s going to use you in mighty ways. But each day you have to remember who it’s about. You have to be willing to leave your fish - all your obsessions with likes, followers, selfies, touchdowns, 4.0s, trophies, and proclaimed accomplishments - and you’re going to have to be willing to leave that and walk with Jesus at any moment’s notice. Those achievements can’t become your idols.

We have to be willing to answer when He calls. No matter the cost. No matter how much we can see or can’t see. 

Last November I was standing in my kitchen, and I just felt like the Holy Spirit was strongly tugging on my heart. I just felt like God was telling me to give away a big amount of money to my church. But that money came from that book I wrote that I mentioned earlier.

And I was proud of that money. I wanted to hold onto that money. I had accomplished enough to get me that money, and it was mine. I had already given some of it up, and I wanted more of it. No way did I want to give it up.

But then God asked me to give it up. Just like that - standing in my kitchen - I felt His Holy Spirit nudge my heart and say to give it to the church. Our church was going through a remodel. And I had a decision to make. Was I going to hang onto my fish or my money? Or was I going to leave it and follow Him?

Our church was trying to raise money to remodel our offices here, and I told God that if it came down to our church needing the exact amount he had put on my heart to give, then I would give the money. That very next Sunday it was that exact amount. So I gave up my fish - all the money I had worked so hard on and was clinging onto.

A couple months later they took Tyler and I through the offices that the money paid for. And as we were walking through, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “That’s going to be your office someday.”

A few more months went by, and I was asking God to use that money in big ways. To bless the fish I had given up. I wasn’t asking for it back, but I wanted to know that He was using it. I didn’t really talk to anyone about it. I didn’t go tell all the high schoolers about my carrots and jello. I just talked with Him.

And then I got a phone call. My pastor called me and asked me if I would be interested in becoming the college and youth pastor of our church. The very office I helped pay for became my office. And the salary increase? It was more than my previous job by the exact amount I gave. The fish I left… Jesus blessed me with again but in a way better position with my heart postured a whole lot more correctly.

Leave your fish. Leave the accomplishments and things you’re clinging onto. Be willing to walk with Jesus. Be willing to leave the accomplishments and masks and instead drop them and realize who to follow.

Some of you are so stuck in your own achievement and gaining as much as you can for yourself that you forget the One who gave it all to you.

Take the mask of accomplishment off. God sees right through it. 

Invite Him into your boat. Drop your fish. Follow Jesus.