Am I Enough | Self-Worth In Christ

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Happy Monday friends! Today I want to us all to ask the question, “Am I enough?”

The question of worth has been on my mind since last week when my six year old told me about a scary conversation he had with a friend at school. His sweet friend (also 6) told my son that he hated himself. Can you imagine? Already at age 6 this poor boy has doubts about his self worth.

So it made me think, “Do I think I am enough?” Where do I get my self-worth? Where are my children getting their self-worth? And my answer may surprise you. No. No, I’m not enough. Not on my own. Now before you shut me down, let me walk through this with you.

Where Does Self-Worth Come From?

The World

The WORLD tells us all two things simultaneously.

1. It is screaming that we are NOT enough. Our bodies aren’t good enough, our clothes aren’t trendy enough, our homes aren’t pretty enough, our children aren’t well behaved enough, our jobs aren’t successful enough….and on and on it goes.

2. On the other hand, the world is telling us that, yes, of course we are good enough! “You are enough.” You see this statement thrown around like confetti to combat the utter despair that we all feel. Can we consider for a moment that both of these viewpoints may be wrong?

Obviously, I disagree with the worldly viewpoint that we are not enough. However, it may not be for the reasons you think. Often I see individuals with low self-esteem and it isn’t difficult to figure out that their self-worth is coming from other people. Maybe they grew up with a rough childhood with critical parents, or their significant other is abusive in some way, or they aren’t valued at work. Whatever the cause, their self-worth is reliant on the finicky opinions of faulty people. That is an equation for a double disaster.

God

If this is you, can I challenge you to view your self-worth through the eyes of God? God has called us His children. Now stop and ponder that for a second. We are called by God to be the children of the Creator of the universe. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know this is that it did not know Him.” 1 John 3:1

People are imperfect. When we get our self-worth from others we are taking imperfect people and placing our own value in their opinions. That is crazy friends! I love my family. I love my friends. But I don’t ever want to place my significance in what they think of me because people are fallible. God is not. And His love for us is unchanging, immovable, and NOT dependent on whether or not we are good enough.

And that takes me to my second point. Why is the philosophy that “You are enough.” wrong? It seems like it should be right from our worldly perspective. It feels right, doesn’t it? But, it is wrong because the fact is, I’m just plain not good enough. I’m fallible. I’m sinful.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

This isn’t my personal judgement on myself or on other people. This is God’s Word. We are all sinful, and if you think about it, this should not be any news to you. Perhaps you don’t call it sin. Sin is a churchy word that most people don’t really understand. But you see it. You see the sin in yourself and you see it in the world every day. There was only one man who walked this Earth that was without sin and that was Jesus. And friends, I’m no Jesus, and neither are you.

Self-Worth Through God’s Grace

Now, if I’m being honest, that sounds kind of crappy doesn’t it? We can’t get our worth from other people and we can’t get it from ourselves. Who is left to get it from? God and God alone. God shows us grace because He knows we are fallible and that we will never be enough without Him. It is not a judgement that He doesn’t also offer restitution from. He showed us grace by sacrificing Jesus for our sins. This is life-changing stuff here friends.

Jesus died so that we can be children of God. What greater love for us is there than that kind of sacrifice? How much more could God show us our value to Him than this? Sometimes it’s hard to comprehend a love that is strong enough to take on the sins of the entire world, past, present and future. For me, that is all a part of faith. I can’t comprehend it because I’m not God. But I accept it as truth.

I came to the conclusion long ago that I would never have self-worth or peace in this world on my own. The world can’t provide it for me. I can’t do it myself because self-doubt is always lingering. Only God can offer that kind of love and acceptance we all so desperately desire.

Paul, a great apostle who wrote a large majority of the new testament, arguably one of the most Godly men to have walked this earth, wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

Guess what that doesn’t say? It doesn’t say, “I can do all things alone.” It doesn’t say, “I can do all things with the help of others.” It doesn’t say, “I will eventually be able to do all things if I work hard enough or just make a little more money.” It says,

I can do ALL things THROUGH CHRIST.

There is great power, peace and purpose in that statement. Will you claim it as your own?

I hope so friends. It’s certainly the best decision I’ve ever made. But it is indeed a decision and a choice. So think about it. Study it. If you already made that decision then I hope this is a good reminder to you of the great love and acceptance God has for you.

Don’t Take My Word For It

If you have no idea what I’m talking about or who Jesus is, then I’d recommending reading the book of John in the Bible to start learning about it. Then move on to 1 John, 2 John and 3 John. Just read all the Johns. 😉 I’ve also listed some of my favorite verses below on God’s great love for us.

You Are Loved.

Be blessed this week friends. And remember to walk in the knowledge that you ARE loved by the everlasting God and you ARE enough with Christ as your strength.

 

 

 

• {God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8}
• {I am sure that neither life nor death, angels nor rulers, things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39}
• {But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2:4-5}
• {The Lord your God is with you. The mighty warrior who saves; He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing. – John 16:33}

All Subscribers have access to my free printable library including today’s You Are Loved printable!

 

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