“If we are perpetually expending, we will hit a wall of depletion, and we will be the worst version of ourselves,” says Cary Schmidt, the senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church. Cary is the author of Steady Strength: Reversing Ministry’s Dangerous Drift Toward Depletion. He discusses several key permissions given to us by the Gospel that lead to a more reasonably paced life: permission to be weak and the permission to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The Gospel, he explains, is the good news that transcends all the bad news in our lives, and this gives us durability and a source of strength and a renewed identity. Cary points troubled or anxious Christians toward cultivating a calm and balanced inner state based on Christ’s truth by fostering nourishing and healthy environments, good lifestyle choices, and solid relationships.