Under His Smile Leader's Guide: Breaking Free From the Need to Perform

Why do we feel the need to be better people than we are? Perhaps you can think of several ways that you need to change, and change quickly! Maybe you think you are failing the people who need you the most. You might feel like you are your own worst enemy, ruining your life on a daily basis. It can seem like a better "you" is the ticket to your own happiness and the happiness of those you love. It can also seem like the ticket to a better relationship with God. What would it be like to know that we already have the approval of the only One whose opinion matters? What if we knew that this One, who created the universe, is actively involved in carrying out his plan for our lives and that his plan is good, to bless us and not to harm us? What if we grasped that his will toward us is kind, and that every moment we are under his smile? In this course, we go back to Eden to see where our drive to perform began, and to learn why it is so powerful. Then we study God's rescue and the freedom that Jesus won for us. Finally, we consider what a life free of performance and pretense looks like, and how we can begin to live this way.