What are you trying to prove?

I don't mean what you're working toward. I mean what you're trying to prove. That you're successful? That you're a good mom? That you're not who you used to be? That the people who doubted you were wrong?

Sometimes the goal is completely fine. The problem is the weight we've asked it to carry. In this episode we look at how a good goal can quietly turn into proof of our worth, and why we sometimes keep performing for people who aren't even watching anymore. We also go back to Matthew 3, where the Father called Jesus beloved before He had done a single public thing. Identity comes before achievement, not after it.

📖 Scriptures in this episode:

• Matthew 3:16–17: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased"
• Matthew 4:1–11: "If you are the Son of God…" (the enemy's "prove it")
• Genesis 11:4: Babel and "let us make a name for ourselves"
• 1 Samuel 15:24–30: Saul fears the people and asks to be honored before the elders
• Galatians 1:10: "Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?"

💭 Questions to sit with this week:

• What am I trying to prove?
• Am I building this because it's faithful, or because I need it to say something about me?
• Am I posting this because it's useful, or because I need to be seen?
• Am I chasing excellence, or am I chasing a name?
• If nobody knew I accomplished this, would I still want it?
• Whose applause am I imagining? Who do I want to regret underestimating me?
• Whose voice is still narrating my decisions from the back of my head?
• Why do I want this goal? (Then ask why again, and again.)
• What am I hoping this will prove about me?
• If this doesn't happen, what am I afraid it will mean about me?
• What would faithfulness look like here?

✨ Your faithful shift this week: Don't throw your goals away. Take the weight off them. Let success just be success, let failure be information instead of a verdict, and let your identity stay where it already belongs, in Christ.

🌿 The Wellness Store
What I use for energy, what I drink, and what I clean with all come from the same place. I use it for energy, hydration, hygiene, cleaning, health, and a whole lot more. If you're curious, I'd love to share more:
https://mymelaleuca.com/KendallAppleton

🎄 The Outdoor Services
Let somebody else get on the ladder this year. They hang Christmas lights, so reach out now if you want your house lit up. They're also doing irrigation blowouts before the freeze and hardscape work while it's cool, plus lawn, landscaping, and irrigation the rest of the year:
https://www.theoutdoorservices.com/

Next week: Every yes costs you something you don't get back, and most of us are spending them like they're free.

If this one hit close to home, share it with someone who needs to hear it and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Keep making faithful shifts. 💛

You were fine. Then you looked sideways.

Comparison isn't only "she has something I want." It's loving your marriage until you see someone's anniversary reel. It's feeling good about your pace until someone your age hits a milestone first. In this episode we talk about the sneaky ways comparison sets deadlines God never gave you, moves the finish line called "enough," and hands us goals that were never ours. We also go back to the beach in John 21, where Jesus says to Peter, "What is that to you? You follow Me."

📖 Scriptures in this episode:

• John 21:15–22: Peter's restoration and "What is that to you? You follow Me."
• 1 Samuel 18:6–9: Saul, David, and the song that turned a win into a threat
• Galatians 6:4–5: Test your own work and carry your own load

💭 Questions to sit with this week:

• Was this goal born out of prayer, conviction, or something God placed in me, or did seeing it just make me want it?
• Is this inspiration or comparison? Does it make me curious and grateful, or does it make me look down on what I've already been given?
• Did God actually tell me something needs to change, or did someone else's life convince me mine wasn't enough?
• Am I where God has asked me to be?
• What has Jesus asked me to do?
• What would faithfulness look like here?

✨ Your faithful shift this week: Find one place you've been looking sideways. Instead of "why don't I have that," pray "God, thank You for what You're doing in their life," and then ask, "What have You asked me to do with mine?"

🌿 The Wellness Store
I use it every day for energy, hydration, hygiene, cleaning, and so much more. If you've wondered what I actually use, I'd love to show you:
https://mymelaleuca.com/KendallAppleton

🎄 The Outdoor Services
Book your Christmas light hanging early, before December sneaks up on you. They're also blowing out irrigation systems before the first freeze and taking on hardscape projects. Come spring, they handle all your lawn, landscaping, and irrigation needs:
https://www.theoutdoorservices.com/

Next week: What are you actually trying to prove, and who are you trying to prove it to?

If this one landed somewhere real, share it with a friend who needs it and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Keep making faithful shifts. 💛

Last week you named the thing. This week Kendall asks you to look at the direction you're actually moving — because your life isn't built by what you intend to do, it's built by what you repeatedly do. Using Haggai's "consider your ways," Martha's kitchen in Luke 10, and a three-year thought experiment that gets uncomfortable fast, this episode is a gut-check on the gap between your stated priorities and your practiced ones. Not shame — information. And one small, repeated choice that could start bending your trajectory.

Scriptures Referenced:

• Galatians 6:7, 9 — "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap" / "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up"
• Haggai 1:5–7 — "Consider your ways" (planted much, harvested little; wages earned into a bag with holes)
• Luke 10:38–42 — Martha and Mary ("Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary")

Questions From the Episode:

The Three-Year Question (the core exercise):

• If nothing changes for three years, where does this take me?
• If I keep spending this way — where am I?
• If I keep treating my marriage this way — where are we?
• If I keep giving my phone this much of my attention — what does that do to me?
• If I keep saying yes at this rate — what does my capacity look like?
• If I keep avoiding this one conversation — what happens to this relationship?
• If I keep relating to God exactly the way I am right now — what kind of roots am I actually growing?

Now Flip It:

• What small, repeated choice could start bending that trajectory?

The Inventory (eight areas to "consider your ways" through):

• Calendar: Where are you chronically overcommitted? What keeps getting bumped because everything else feels more urgent? Do the people you say matter most actually get meaningful access to you, or the leftovers?
• Money: What does it repeatedly make possible? Are your spending patterns building the financial life you say you want, or is Future You constantly footing the bill for decisions Today You made?
• Attention: Where does your attention keep going? When someone you love is talking, where's your mind? When you're praying, how long before your brain wanders off?
• Relationships: Who's actually getting the healthiest version of you, and who's getting whatever's left at 9pm? Are there relationships you say matter deeply that have quietly gone on autopilot?
• Habits: What do you do without thinking?
• Rest: Do you actually believe it's necessary, or do you treat it like a reward you'll collect once everything else is finished? When exactly is everything finished?
• Spiritual rhythms: Are you abiding, or is prayer mostly an emergency response system you activate when things go sideways?
• Commitments: How much of your life did you intentionally choose, and how much did you just agree to without ever deciding whether it belonged?

Your Faithful Shift This Week:

• What do I say I want? What am I actually, repeatedly choosing? Where's that trajectory taking me? And finally — what would faithfulness look like here?

Links:

• Join The Shift Collective: www.faithfulshift.com
• The Wellness Store: https://mymelaleuca.com/KendallAppleton