To Hell With The Hustle, A 5-Day Devotional from Jefferson Bethke Sample

Day 2:

 I’ve begun to understand that we are created for formation, not goal-setting. In general, goals are usually about a finish line. Something you can reach for and then be done once you accomplish it. It’s about doing something. Formations, on the other hand, aren’t about doing something but about being someone. One is usually about activity when the other is about identity. Goals are linear and resemble a straight line. Formations look more like a circle, where you are constantly coming back to the same place to seek renewal and refreshment in a particular practice. One is about a result the other is about a process.

Some people, when they begin a new hobby, get a huge burst of ambition. Take running for example. They’ll almost immediately tell themselves, I want to run a 10K or half marathon by this time next year. That’s helpful and great. But I think a better approach is to focus on identity: I want to be someone who runs as a normal part of my life. Or I will run at least five minutes five days a week.

There’s no finish line. Nothing to really accomplish. Make it more of a practice or way of life that will hopefully stay with you for the next sixty years. Because it’s not about the marathon. It’s about I’m a runner. And the latter to me seems to bring longer, deeper, richer benefits.

And why does this distinction matter so much? I think because Scripture doesn’t talk much about goals. But it is deeply focused on our identity. On who we are becoming.

Are we becoming more like Jesus by the practices and formations we are doing? . . .

I want to be formed and shaped and molded into His image. To be more like Him. To look like Him. To walk at His pace. To respond to the world with His gentleness and grace. To reign and rule, build, create, and cultivate under His loving and sacrificial authority. But to do that, I have to look in His face. Meet with Him. Stay at His feet. Spend time with Him. To live in repeatable practices and formations that consistently put myself before Him. I have to shape my space and my habits away from my false self and push myself into becoming a true full image bearer of Him.