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Driven or Led?
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 by CF Sherrow
Categories: Faithfulness of God
Gordon MacDonald raises a piercing question in Ordering Your Private World: are you led, or are you driven?
At first glance, the difference can be hard to see. When we measure people by their productivity or “results,” we can easily miss the inner landscape that fuels their pace. Driven people often look impressive. They accomplish much. They climb. They push. They may even be praised as “self-made.”
But beneath the surface, the story is often different. Many driven people live with a quiet fear of failure. Some are still chasing acceptance they never received as children. Some cannot accept themselves. They may rise to positions of authority, yet wonder what happens when the applause fades. Are they truly worthy of the pedestal they stand on? What if someone sees past the polished exterior? It is a fragile, exhausting way to live.
The led person moves through life differently. Their work may be just as demanding, their responsibilities just as weighty, but the engine beneath it all is peace, not fear. Their inner world has order.
Even if they lacked acceptance early in life, they have embraced a deeper truth: they are accepted by God. He leads them “beside still waters” and “makes them lie down in green pastures.” He restores their soul—brings it back to the shape it was meant to have.
Led people walk quietly beside the Shepherd, secure in who they are and in who He is. And if they rise to places of influence, they carry a settled confidence. Acceptance from others is welcome, but not essential. Their identity is not up for negotiation.
In the end, the question is not how high we climb, but what spirit carries us as we climb. Are we driven by fear, or led by the One who restores our soul?
CF Sherrow
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