Am I Good Enough?
Romans 8:38-39—For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, we will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I believe one of the most common misconceptions for believers is about their worth—-either you don’t believe you’re good enough to call yourself a Christian, or you do everything you can to work towards being good enough. Can I tell you something that’ll make you feel really good?
You’re not actually good enough. Never have been. Never will be. You are a sinner, baby. I’m a sinner, too.
Good news: God loves you anyway. God is love. God loves us because of His character, not ours.
Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t wait for us to get ourselves together before He sent His Son to earth; Jesus came because we COULDN’T. Thank God, His grace is greater than our sin. He loves each of us as if there were only one of us. He leaves the 99 to go after the one (psst——you’re the one). “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19). Read that back again. And again. And then one more time. God’s love isn’t a feeling, it’s a promise. Remember that promise no matter what you’re feeling.
It’s been said that Christianity isn’t about a religion, it’s about a relationship. “Religion” is all about me and what I DO. A “relationship” is about Jesus and what He has DONE. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—-and that is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Did you catch that? Your salvation is a gift, not something you can achieve on your own. To be saved and made new in Christ is to be loved and known by God. He knows exactly who you are—all the quirks, all the mess, all the hidden things in your heart—He knows it all. And He still loves you. When Jesus bought you, He bought all of you.
Like I said, we’re all sinners. Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He even said about himself, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15). What you need to know is that doing a bad thing doesn’t make you a bad person. So often we’re tempted to connect action with identity. Don’t misunderstand me—some people actively pursue sin, and their actions show it. Let’s just agree that if you’re here right now, you’re probably not one of those people. The Old Testament contains over 600 laws. I know what you might be thinking right now—“How could there be so many rules? What was even the point?” If you’re like me, you’re picturing that scene from Parks and Recreation (Talking too loud? Right to jail. Stealing? Right to jail.) The purpose of the Old Testament law was to show people their need for a Savior. There’s no way you could keep all of those, let alone remember them! But rather than condemning us, God heals and restores us. Now, obviously, that’s not an invitation to go crazy and do whatever you want to, but give yourself a little grace. There’s no such thing as “too tainted” when you are infinitely valuable to God.
Here’s the thing, Jesus is kind of like a garbage man (go with me on this). When you have garbage, you bring it out to the trash can. On garbage pick-up day, you wheel that trash can to the edge of your driveway for the garbage guy to pick up and bring to the landfill. Do you ever drive out to the dump and look for your garbage so you can bring it back home? I seriously hope not. Why would you? It’s garbage! It’s dirty! It doesn’t belong to you anymore! And the guy whose job it is to take it to the dump did that already! Hopefully you’re seeing where I’m going here. If Jesus came to earth, was crucified with your garbage, and took that away…why are you trying to pick that back up? Of all the things that God gave you, shame isn’t one of them. Like garbage, it was never meant for you to carry around.
There’s a big difference between guilt and shame. The enemy wants to use your shame to drive you away from God by making you think you’re a bad person. On the other hand, God can use your guilt to draw you near His grace. This type of guilt isn’t a label, like a guilty verdict in a courtroom; it’s a recognition that you’ve screwed up. The beauty of the gospel is that God will take us back, no matter how many times we’ve screwed up. Why? “Love covers a multitude of sin” (1 Peter 4:8).
Sometimes, we take those “not good enough” feelings and try to work our way into being “good enough.” The root of that? Pride. Pride makes you think you can get it right on your own. Here’s a refresher on the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11:4—“Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.’” I can just picture God doing a *tsk, tsk, tsk, “Look at these people trying to give themselves glory!”* Pride (and perfectionism) gives us this illusion that we can cover up whatever we lack with success. I bet the enemy would love nothing more than to keep us climbing these never-ending ladders of career, religion, athletic achievements, and other worldly pursuits. Can I make a suggestion? Trade the ladder for a pillar.
Jacob, another imperfect person loved by God, first saw the meaning of this choice. In Genesis 28, we read about a dream he has “in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” The next morning, Jacob took the stones he had been using as pillows, built a pillar, anointed it with oil, and called it Bethel. Jacob’s Ladder was really a staircase to heaven. And Jesus is the fulfillment of that ladder, because He brought heaven to earth. He brought the forgiveness and salvation to you. You don’t need to work for something that’s already been freely given. When we buy into the enemy’s lie that we have to work for God’s forgiveness, we buy into false idea that the cross wasn’t enough.
Levi Lusko writes in his newest book Blessed are the Spiraling:
Your worth and identity are fixed and cannot be adequately reflected in the status of your output, waistline, social media following, or ‘spiritual accomplishments.’ Nothing like that could ever contain who you are. So, fundamentally, you are not a banker, plumber, influencer, or college pastor. You are not a consultant, pageant winner, football star, or honor-student parent. You are not a CEO, tire salesman, or astronaut. Those are roles you have filled and actions you have taken, and they are seasonal. You are a blood-bought, Spirit-filled child of the Most High God! You were entrusted with His image and called by His name…You will never have less or more value than you do right now…You are not God’s gift to planet earth, or are you as bad as your worst mistake. You are a human being God loves…God did not choose us because we were the best and brightest or the most wonderful. He sets His love on the weak and broken to prove His glory and strength.
Can I give you a loving slap in the face right now?
If God is for you, shouldn’t you be for you? You’re what God thinks of you, not what others think of you. You’re not even what you think of you!
Let’s take David for example. If we were to label him based on what his family thought of him or his worst mistakes, we would see him as the runt of the litter, a loser shepherd boy, an adulterer (remember Bathsheba?), and a murderer. But how did God see him? As a man after His own heart, someone who responded to his sin with humility and repentance, and as a king. Or look at Paul—you know, the guy who wrote half of the New Testament? He started off as Saul—the great persecutor of Christians. But that’s not how God saw him.
Your Father calls you the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city on a hill. You are the son/daughter of a King. So who are you going to choose to believe? Because friend, there is a real difference between believing in God and believing God. Jesus loves you enough to meet you exactly where you are, but He isn’t going to leave you there. You are not the exception to His acceptance. Maybe what you need isn’t more self-confidence, but God-confidence—because His love is what makes you worthy.
Jesus, thank You that Your love makes me valuable. Who You say I am is so much more valuable than who the world says I am. I don’t deserve the sacrifice You made on the cross, nor could I ever earn it. Help me to stop chasing after ladders and build pillars to Your faithfulness, instead. Thank You for the indescribable gift You’ve offered freely to all who trust in Your name. God, You are love. Show me ways that I can share that love with others in my own life. Because of You, I am no longer a slave in chains to my shame. The enemy can’t buy any real estate in my mind, because I already belong to Jesus. Amen.