Mind Your Own Discipleship

"Jesus answered, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.'” John 21:22 (NIV)

When Peter pointed at John and asked, "What about him?" in John chapter 21, Jesus didn’t entertain the question. He didn’t offer a comparison chart. He didn’t explain John’s path or reassure Peter he was doing okay.

Jesus simply said, "What is that to you? As for you, follow me."

Jesus calls us individually—not competitively. His kingdom isn't a ladder to climb or a race to beat others to the finish. It’s a walk, step by step, behind a Shepherd who knows your name.

Throughout Scripture and history, the great saints and apostles understood this. Paul warned the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 10:12 that comparing themselves to others wasn’t wise—it was a trap. The writer of Hebrews urged believers to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:1–2, NIV), not on how far ahead or behind someone else seemed.

You’re a handcrafted original and God has a plan just for you. Spiritual FOMO may be a thing but it's not a good thing. Abraham didn’t measure himself against Noah. St. Francis of Assisi didn’t model his life after Solomon’s wealth or David’s victories. They each trusted the specific, personal path God placed in front of them—and they ran that race. Their own.

The race marked out for you has your name on it—not someone else’s.

The path God leads you on might look nothing like your spiritual heroes—and that’s by design, not default. You weren’t made to be a copy. You were crafted to be called. And your calling won’t look like anyone else's—because it was never supposed to.

The world will always offer new finish lines to chase. New stages to impress from. New fears of missing out. But from Solomon’s wisdom to St. Francis’s simple joys, we’ve already seen the truth:

God isn’t looking at your competition. He’s looking at you.

You don’t have to hustle to be seen. You don’t have to compare to belong. You don’t have to run someone else’s marathon in shoes that don’t even fit you. You don't need to sprint, collapse, or duct-tape your soul together to keep up.

You just need to keep moving forward in your lane — even if your current pace may look more like a stubborn toddler wobbling forward than a gold-medal champion.

And besides—God isn’t handing out gold medals for the fastest finish. He’s paving streets with it for the ones who simply follow Him.

Prayer:

Jesus, I choose to follow You and keep my eyes on You. Thank You for giving me my own race at my own pace to fulfill the purpose You have created me for. In Your name, I pray.

We hope this Plan encouraged you. This plan is lifted from the book "Holy Hustle Detox" by Heather Hair. Find this book, and more encouraging resources by Heather, here at this link.