In Him, You Are Enough

Have you ever felt like you're not enough?

Not pretty enough. Not successful enough. Not funny enough. Not outgoing enough. Not anybody's first choice. Maybe you find yourself looking at others' lives around you and wondering what they have that you don't. Maybe you find yourself striving to meet expectations that were never meant to be there in the first place.

If this is you, I understand where you are at. It can be exhausting constantly trying to become the person you think is enough for everyone else. We chase approval, compare our lives and try to find acceptance in a world that will never give it. The feeling of constantly trying to do a little more or act a little different just so we can finally feel like we measure up is exhausting and one of the most disheartening feelings.

But what if we stopped striving for the approval of the world and stood firm on the truth that we already have the approval of the only one who matters? God.

Before you felt inadequate at your job, before you felt you weren't pretty enough, before you even accomplished anything and before anybody else formed an opinion of you that changed the way you saw yourself, God already knew you and accepted you.

You were created in His image. Not the world's image, in His and His alone. He called you His, and He loves you deeply. In Him, you are fully known. In Him, you are enough.

There is nothing you can do in this world to earn your worth in His eyes because you already have it. You don't have to change your personality to be seen as valuable. You don't have to perform, accomplish more or become somebody else to earn His acceptance.

You are enough because He says you are His.

2 Corinthians 3:5 says, "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

I don't have to be enough on my own. I am enough in Him.

Maybe today you needed the reminder that you don't have to earn your place at the table. You don't have to be the prettiest, the funniest, the most successful or the most liked person in the room to have value. You don't have to spend your life trying to convince people that you're worthy of being loved.

Because your worth was never meant to come from them.

The world will always have another standard for you to reach. There will always be someone who is prettier, more successful, more talented or more outgoing. If we allow the world to determine whether we are enough, we will spend our lives chasing a finish line that keeps moving.

God doesn't ask us to compete with worldly expectations. He doesn't compare us to the person next to us. He doesn't love us more when we accomplish more or love us less when we fall short.

So when that voice tells you that you're not enough, remind yourself where your worth comes from. When comparison tells you that you need to be more like someone else, remember that God didn't create you to be them. And when you find yourself striving for the acceptance of others, pause and remember that the One who created you already knows you, loves you and calls you His.

You don't have to become someone else to be enough.

You don't have to do more to be worthy.

You don't have to earn what God has already freely given you.

You are enough because you are His.

Quiet Time Questions 💬

• When have you found yourself feeling like you aren't enough? What specifically made you feel that way?
• Whose approval do you find yourself striving for most, and why do you think their approval carries so much weight?
• What expectations have you placed on yourself that God never asked you to meet?
• In what areas of your life are you most tempted to compare yourself to others? How has comparison affected the way you see yourself?
• Finish this sentence in your own words: “Because I am His, I don't have to ______.”