But he answered his father, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30)

The world often teaches us a very different message than the Bible. One of the lies we are taught is the lie of performance. Many of us grow up believing that our value either lies in what we achieve or we feel excluded or rejected because of what we have failed to accomplish.

Luke records Jesus telling the familiar parable of the prodigal son. What is really interesting to me is that both brothers in the story entertain this belief, even though it is expressed in opposite ways. This belief fueled their actions and caused them to do things that didn’t honor God.

Whenever I’ve heard this parable taught, the focus is always on the younger brother who after squandering his father’s wealth no longer feels worthy to be called his Father’s son. The younger brother’s sin is so obvious that it can’t be hidden.  Many of us can relate to being humbled as a result of our mistakes.

However, the older brother was also at fault, but his sin is not as obvious.  When he heard that his younger brother had repented and come home, he was angry and jealous. The older brother felt that his years of loyalty and faithfulness to his father entitled him to be treated better than his “sinful” brother. When he saw his father throw a party to welcome his brother back, bitterness consumed him. 

Can you identify with the older brother? Do you ever feel entitled? Do you ever feel like you are doing all the right things, but you aren’t getting the reward or recognition that you feel you deserve? You might not even realize that this is a form of pride that is holding you back from living the full and abundant life that God has planned for you.  God wants you to know his grace, love, and forgiveness in order to free you from this lie. 

The father in this parable represents God. God’s character doesn’t change based on what we do or don’t do. We can’t be more loved by God when we do good deeds. We also could never lose God’s love when we don’t live up to His expectations.

Both brothers believed the lie of performance. This kept the younger brother from running to his father when he needed Him most. It also kept the older brother from understanding his father’s heart of grace, forgiveness, and love.  If he had understood, he would have been rejoicing when his brother returned. At the end of the parable, the younger son, by the grace of God, has returned all the way back “inside”, while the older son chooses to remain “outside.”

Where do you find yourself standing these days? You don’t want a faulty belief to hold you back from Jesus. He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life- the antidote to the poison of the performance lie. And He is waiting for us to run to Him so that he can speak truth into us and cover us with His unconditional love.