You Are Not Enough

You are enough. Yes, that is what we’re told. It’s a line, mantra, self-affirmation that we’re told that we should repeat every day to remind us of how great we are, that we can do, and to basically make us feel good about ourselves despite our failures and insecurities. When we look around, and the house is a mess, the kids are unruly, and we still haven’t done that blogpost, we’re reminded that we are enough.

There’s one fatal flaw with this statement: it is based on the faulty idea that somehow we can solve all of our problems ourselves. But, if you’re like me, and believe that God’s Word is true, you’ll see that we really aren’t enough.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

First, the source of our problems is bigger and stronger than any of us: sin. We are powerless to resist the pull of sin, because it’s our nature. Our kids are unruly because it’s their nature. Then we lose our tempers, well, because it’s our nature. There are times we’d rather be lazy than take care of the house, because we’re inclined to. There are days we’d rather binge watch TV than homeschool our kids, well, because our own needs and wants come first. We don’t always have the best intentions. And these are just some of the “light” things that most people don’t think much of, but according to God, when we do these things, we’ve missed the mark.

So why do we believe we’re so great on our own? Well, God explains this in His word.

Suppressing the truth

In Romans 1, God says that people suppress the truth by their wickedness. I know that when we read this word “wickedness” certain things come to mind. But really we could use the word immorality here.

So when we would rather live by our own standards rather than God’s, the result is immorality becomes moral. For example, putting the needs of others above our own, as God commands, is no longer the standard. Instead, we’re encouraged to take care of ourselves first, which sounds good, but is really not God’s way. I mean, what if Jesus chose to save His own life rather than die a shameful death on the cross for our sins? This topic is a whole post on its own.

Exchanging the Truth for a Lie

Here is where we get to believing we are enough. Because we’ve lowered our standards from God’s Word to what we can accomplish in our own power, it’s natural to believe that we are enough. We can solve our own problems because everyone sets their own standards. And we’ve all bought into this lie on some level.

But what is the truth? The truth is that we are not enough. We can’t solve our biggest problem. But praise God, He is more than enough? And because He’s more than enough, the Christ in us IS enough.

We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. But let’s not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Remember that without Him, we can do nothing. So begin the day with God, invite Him in to your day, let Him guide you. And you’ll find that, no, I’m not enough, but God is more than enough.