We can’t make ourselves more worthy for a prize or an accolade. We can only pray that God makes us worthy for the dreams He has for us. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power… (2 Thessalonians 1:11 ESV) The “end” Paul is talking about here is the “end game.” He wants to assure the followers of Christ in the first century that the end game of believing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is a fulfillment of God’s calling for their lives. Consequently, that calling cannot be received or lived into by our own power or self discipline, but only by God’s own making. Some of us are trying too hard to make ourselves “worthy” for God. In the process of trying to make ourselves this type of worthy, we are alienating ourselves, the people around us and God Himself. But that is the wrong strategy. We should really be allowing our faith in God grow by allowing God to work in all our work, insecurities and missteps and mistakes. Rather, instead of striving toward a “worthiness” or self-made perfection, we need to focus on making our intentions toward God in faith. Just ask yourself, when was the last time you even make the last good thing you did intentionally about God? When you made it about God, what had happened through the course of your activities? Were not even your mistakes, errors and bad decisions leveraged and used by God for the sake of His worthiness in your life? Make your intentions for God and He will make you worthy for that call. No perfection required, no acts of false piety needed. Come before God with your faith, no matter how large or small, with doubts and questions, and then watch as God makes you worthy.