Atomic Habits says, “Your identity emerges out of your habits.” Nope!

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6)

I don’t know where the phrase “Let go and let God” came from. But I’ll tell you this for free: It wasn’t from Scripture.

Jesus didn’t “let go and let God.” It’s true that he trusted God for all the results of his goals, saying “The Son can do nothing by himself” (John 5:19). But he also worked crazy hard, saying, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me” (John 9:4).

While culture will urge you to choose between trusting God and working hard, Scripture calls you to combine. It’s not an issue of either-or but both-and, accepting our job while humbly recognizing God’s. Let me put it this way… 

My job is inputs. God’s job is outcomes. 

My job is to plant seeds. God’s job is to produce harvests. 

My job is faithfulness. God’s job is fruitfulness.

And so, theologian J.I. Packer said, “The Christian’s motto should not be ‘Let go and let God’ but ‘Trust God and get going.’”

That brings us to the fifth principle of this series.

Principle #5: Trust God and Get Going — To redeem our goals in the model of our Redeemer, we will work hard while trusting God with 100% of the results.

God is responsible for all of the results of our goals. But God often produces those results through our hard work in general—and the honing of our habits more specifically. Here’s a simple habit-building practice to that end.

Practice #5: Pair the Bitter with the Sweet

Pair the bitter (a habit you don’t want to do) with the sweet (something you do want to do). In the words of Tom Haverford, “treat yo self” during or after a bitter activity.

If you hate checking email but need to in order to hit your goals, check it in your favorite coffee shop. If you hate making 250 cold calls a week, pair that bitter activity with the sweet reward of goat yoga on the weekend—no judgment here, whatever works for you works.

That’s the practice. Now here’s the thing that matters more than any practice. You can have every habit hack in the world, but the one thing that’s certain is that you will break your “habit streak.” And when you do, you’ll be tempted to believe the world’s story about what that means.

James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, says that “Your identity emerges out of your habits.” Not for the Christian, it doesn’t. 

Your identity emerges not out of your habits but Jesus’s habit of holiness. You are a child of God whose adoption was secured through Christ’s perfect work on the cross, not your imperfect work on your goals. Rest in that love. And may God’s love compel you to begin again—not to prove your worth, but to proclaim the Lord’s infinite worth through the work of your hands.