When I was little, I used to dress up in crazy costumes and put on shows in our living room. My favorite part was how proud I felt when they would look at me and say, “Good job!” I’ve been performing since I was little, and it was fun back then, but now that I’m older I realize all the ways I transferred that need for approval onto my relationships with God and others.

Why do we perform? Many of us were taught by our parents, teachers, our culture, or even the Church that when we produce, achieve, or impress, that makes us accepted and lovable. At the core of that is a desire we all have: to be good. But where does that desire come from?

Genesis 2:9 says that in the Garden, there were two trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil.

In Genesis 3, we read about how the enemy tricked Eve into doubting God. As a result, she ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, sharing some with Adam. Their eyes were opened and they felt shame for the first time. God took it so seriously that He made them leave the Garden for good.

Why didn’t God want us to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Think about those two trees in the Garden as two different ways we can view God:

The Tree of Life meant relationship, dependence, and presence where the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil meant separation, self-reliance, and performance. When sin came into the Garden, it wasn’t just about disobedience. I think what really broke God’s heart is that for a moment, humanity doubted whether God really knew best. Before the Fall, humans were God-conscious—aware of Him, present with Him, in perfect relationship with Him.

After the Fall, we became self-conscious. That’s why, when sin entered the Garden and they felt shame, they ran away to hide and cover themselves up. They started performing—trying to be “good” instead of “evil.” They were trying to fix what they had broken in their own strength and did the best they could, but it didn’t repair the damage, it just caused more shame and separation. Since then, humans have been striving to define and achieve “good” apart from God and it just doesn’t work. Here’s why: GOODNESS IS A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, NOT SOMETHING WE MAKE UP ON OUR OWN.

The truth is, performance is like running a race on a treadmill. You’re constantly moving, but you never reach the finish line. You just get tired.

Performance looks different for everyone: perfectionism, people-pleasing, avoiding your problems and pain so you don’t feel like a burden, pride, making yourself look good online to feel impressive or approved of, faking it, or even going through the motions of being a good Christian but never really feeling connected to Jesus.

Here’s how we break free from performance... return to the Tree of Life! Acknowledge that apart from God, we can do NOTHING (John 15:5). Understand that we are all sinners and that our neediness for God isn’t weakness—it’s actually our perfect design to be met by the love of our Savior (2 Corinthians 12:9). Surrender—lay down the mask, stop pretending and performing (Hebrews 4:16). And receive the truth of God’s love for you as you come home to His presence (Ephesians 3:18).

You have nothing to prove. God doesn’t want your performance, He wants your right-here-right-now, messy, honest, broken, unsure, fully human presence with Him. Being with God produces everything performance tries to earn!