No More Performing
March 8 | Discipleship Guide
Be Real Together:
Take a few minutes to catch up, tell stories, and laugh together.
If you’re launching a new Group, trust and friendship take time to build. Take turns each week having someone share a bit of their story.
If you’re launching a new Group, trust and friendship take time to build. Take turns each week having someone share a bit of their story.
Read Together: Galatians 3:10–26 CSB
In this passage, Paul explains why trying to earn righteousness through rule-keeping leads to a curse rather than freedom. God’s law reveals His holy standard, but it also exposes our inability to perfectly meet it. No one can justify themselves before God through effort or performance.
The good news is that Jesus stepped into our place. Christ took the curse of sin upon Himself through the cross so that we could receive the blessing promised to Abraham—righteousness, relationship with God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit—all through faith.
The law was never meant to save us. It served as a guardian pointing us to Jesus. Now that Christ has come, we are no longer defined by performance but by faith in Him.
The good news is that Jesus stepped into our place. Christ took the curse of sin upon Himself through the cross so that we could receive the blessing promised to Abraham—righteousness, relationship with God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit—all through faith.
The law was never meant to save us. It served as a guardian pointing us to Jesus. Now that Christ has come, we are no longer defined by performance but by faith in Him.
The One Question:
If you only have time for one question, ask this one.
Where do you most feel pressure to prove yourself—to God, to others, or even to yourself?
Grow Together:
Use these questions to go deeper with your Group or for personal reflection.
- Paul says those who rely on works of the law are under a curse. Why do you think people naturally drift toward performance-based faith?
- The law reveals God’s standards but also exposes our inability to perfectly meet them. Why is it important for us to understand both of those truths?
- Galatians 3:13 says Christ became a curse for us. What does that mean, and why is it such good news?
- How does understanding the law as a guardian leading us to Christ change the way you read the Old Testament?
- In verse 11 Paul quotes Habakkuk: “The righteous will live by faith.” What do you think it means to actually live by faith day to day?
- What would change in your daily life if you truly believed that your relationship with God rests on Christ’s work, not your performance?
Pray Together:
- Thank God that we are not saved by performance but by grace through faith.
- Confess any areas where you have been striving to earn God’s approval.
- Thank Jesus for becoming a curse on our behalf so we could receive blessing and freedom.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live from your identity in Christ rather than striving to prove yourself.
Next Steps:
- When you catch yourself thinking “I’m not doing enough,” pause and remind yourself of the gospel: Jesus has already done enough.
- Read Galatians 3:13–14 each day this week and reflect on what it means that Christ redeemed you from the curse.
- Identify one place where you feel pressure to perform spiritually and intentionally bring that struggle to God in honest prayer.
- Memorize Galatians 3:26 as a reminder that your identity is rooted in Christ, not your performance.