#139 Faith or Performance? Breaking Free From Spiritual Image

The Recalibration

Content provided by Julie Holly. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Julie Holly or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

4d ago 10:46

MP3•Episode home

Even your faith can become a performance. If you love God but feel like you're always curating, producing, or proving, this recalibration will help you trade spiritual hustle for grace-rooted rest.

You love God — but still feel like you're performing.
Today’s recalibration names the quiet ache that many high-capacity humans carry in silence: the pressure to “do faith” right. You serve, pray, and lead… but underneath, there's a haunting question: Is this really what grace feels like?

This episode explores how even our deepest devotion can be hijacked by performance — not because we’re insincere, but because we’ve been formed by a world that rewards doing more, giving more, and being more.

From the disciples’ debate in Mark 9 to Martin Luther’s guilt-ridden striving, we unpack how even spiritual zeal can become another form of hustle — and what it means to return to rest, identity, and unearned love.

You’ll hear a deeply personal story, a powerful Henri Nouwen quote, and a raw reminder: God’s not grading your output. He’s inviting your return.

Today’s Micro Recalibration:
Ask: Where has my faith felt like performance?
Pray: God, strip away performance so I can rest in grace.
Let this episode be the interruption that leads you back to grace — not as a concept, but as your lived reality.

Episode Highlights

Why even sincere faith can drift into performance — and how to spot it
Signs your spiritual life may be more curated than connected
What Mark 9 reveals about the disciples’ desire for status and exclusivity
Martin Luther’s identity crisis before the Reformation — and how grace freed him
The danger of spiritual comparison and “holy hustle” culture
The difference between discipline and delight in your walk with God
How performance-based faith disconnects us from presence, rest, and identity
A deeply personal reflection from Julie’s own season of spiritual image maintenance
Henri Nouwen’s transformative quote on moving from belonging to the world → to belonging in God
Why Identity-Level Recalibration isn’t just for business or burnout — it’s for your spiritual life, too
How grace isn’t earned through output — it’s received in rest

Resources:

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen

If this episode gave you language you’ve been missing, please rate and review the show so more high-capacity humans can find it.

Explore Identity-Level Recalibration
→ Follow Julie Holly on LinkedIn for more recalibration insights

→ Schedule a conversation with Julie to see if The Recalibration is a fit for you

→ Download the Misalignment Audit

→ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter

→ Join the waitlist for the next Recalibration cohort

This isn’t therapy. This isn’t coaching. This is identity recalibration — and it changes everything.

718 episodes