Today, I want to encourage you that you are enough. There’s this idea going around that says that we are not enough. There are those who think that when we say, “I am enough.” or “You are enough” it is simply not true, and they just cannot believe it about themselves.
Well, I feel like I am here to tell you today that you are enough and that having self-worth is not evil. In fact, it is how Jesus sees us. One of the many things that I have learned during my time in counseling is to see myself the way that Jesus sees me. Whenever I think bad thoughts about myself or someone says something to me or about me in an unloving spirit, I ask myself, “…but what does Jesus say?” And, I can tell you now that Jesus would never tell us that we are not enough.
Because I’m a mom, I can think about this from a parent’s point of view. I would never tell my child that he is not enough. I can tell you that I did have a mom who told me that, and it doesn’t feel that great at all. Unfortunately, I did believe it and operate in that untruth for a really long time, but then I learned that Jesus would never tell me that, and that in Him, who is also in me, I am enough. I could never pass that down to my own children. They are enough, and I cannot imagine my loving heavenly father, who is way better at being a parent than I could ever dream of being, could or would ever tell me that I am not enough.
I think that I have shared before that I really started to see the love of God and how God looks at us when I had my first son. It was then that I began to really (but only slightly because I don’t know that I could ever completely comprehend how much God really and truly loves us), but it was then that I began to see that I could never look at my kids and say. “There is nothing good in you. You are not enough!”
I believe that the love, forgiveness, and compassion that I have for my kids is very small compared to what Jesus has for us.
Ephesians 2:10 tells me that we are God’s handiwork. Do we really want to believe that God is perfect, and we are God’s handiwork, yet we are not enough?
Psalm 139:13-14 says that God created my inmost being and knit me together in my mother’s womb, and I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
God already knows us, everything about us, and even loves us, even before we acknowledge Him. If He begins to see us the moment we accept Him, then that would mean that He wouldn’t know we existed before that, and the Psalm that I quoted above would be a lie.
In Jeremiah 1:5, God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…”
This means that God knew him BEFORE he was even knitted in his mother’s womb, and I don’t think that was reserved for only Jeremiah. I am confident that this applies to all of us.
What would your life look like if you began to walk in this truth today? What would your relationships with those around you look like?
Last week, I talked about how, back in 2006, God called my husband and me away from our home church and moved us to another church where He began to show His love and mercy to me in a whole new way and level. The pastor and his wife there were truly amazing, and they loved people as I had never experienced before. Because of this, God also began to open my eyes and heart more to the love that He has for people because God is a good father, and I can tell you that concentrating on God’s love for me caused me to want to become sinless more than concentrating on my sin.
We began to sing songs about God’s love and not songs about our sin. They were truly joyful and uplifting and not demeaning or contradicting to God’s love for us. They were very mindful about what we sang.
Our words have power, and the words we sing in our songs have power…maybe even more power because how many times do we get a certain song stuck in our heads? We don’t typically repeat an entire speech by heart, but we can repeat every line to a song we heard 20+ years ago.
God is not in heaven whispering to Paul or Abraham, “Look at that wretched girl. She thinks she is enough, but she is not.” These are things that PEOPLE say about us; NOT God, but maybe we have put some of those people above God, and that’s why we listen to them instead of what God is really saying about us.
Luke 12:17 tells me that I am valued.
Joshua 1:9 tells me that I can be strong and courageous.
1 Peter 1:9 tells me that I am chosen.
Colossians 3:12 also tells me that I am chosen.
1 John 3:1 tells me that I am a child of God.
Psalm 139:14 says that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and then verse 17 tells me that His thoughts towards me are precious and many.
Ephesians 2:4-5 tells me that I am loved by God with a great love, even through my sin.
Matthew 5:14 tells me that I am the light of the world.
John 15:15 says that I am a friend of God.
Romans 8:31 says that God is FOR me.
Ephesians 2:19 says that I am not a stranger…, but a member of God’s household.
Romans 8:37 says that I am more than a conqueror.
There are still times in my life that I need to remind myself what God thinks about me…pretty much EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. My mind can truly go out of bounds with the things that are not true, and I have to reel myself in with the truth and transform every attitude that I may have about myself or even God.
I’d like to address here that being enough does not mean to never try to be something more. We need to keep striving, keep moving, keep growing, keep trying to become better humans… We should always try to be better, move forward, and love big. I don’t believe that there is ever a time that we should settle in our enough-ness.
Lastly, I’d also like to say that I try to make it a habit to ask my kids, “…but what does God say about you?” I want them to also know this truth, and, recently, I’ve had the privilege of asking my kid’s friends, “…but what does God say about you?” And, it has been super powerful and caused them to think and begin to change their attitude as well – even those who don’t yet acknowledge Jesus.
So, today, I’d like to leave you pondering this question. “What does God REALLY say about you, and how can living in this truth transform every attitude you may have about yourself and your life?”
