Enough!

I am not enough.

I don’t feel as though I am enough. Not strong enough. Not wise enough. Not virtuous enough. Just not enough.

Despite my attempts to be a “better” person – a better wife, mother, friend, family member, Christian – I know I fail far too often. I just don’t think I am enough.

Some would say this is due to a lack of positive thinking; it is a matter of self-love. I shouldn’t beat myself up when everyone faces similar struggles.

Simply put, with enough positive self-talk, I should be able to lessen the focus on my shortcomings. Right?

Am I enough?

The t-shirt, advertised on my social media feed, has the words “I am enough” colorfully emblazoned across the front. If I purchased and wore the shirt, would I feel as though I were enough?

“I am enough.” These words are artfully sketched on a piece of home decor.   Would hanging it on my wall take away feelings of inadequacy?

Personal coaches advise writing such mantras on the bathroom mirror.  Does repeating it to myself each time I glance at my reflection make it true?

Am I enough?  

Enough what?

I might be patient, but am I patient enough?  My memories include too many incidents of being short-tempered and harsh to verify that claim. 

Do I work hard enough? Lazy moments and wasted hours would provide evidence to the contrary.  

Am I considerate enough?   Humble enough?  Can I possibly be wise, faithful, generous, or content enough?  

Am I enough of a wife, a mother, or a friend?  An accuser who doesn’t think so would have plenty of evidence to back up their allegations.

A person who tries to finish a task to perfection finally gets frustrated with getting it just so, gives up, and says, “It’s good enough!”

But is it? 

What does enough even mean?

Is it enough if I demonstrate patience more often than not?  Can I create a list of times I have been generous and hope it cancels out my many moments of selfishness?  Would it be sufficient if I had more of any given positive attribute than people around me?

Would that make me enough?

Dictionaries generally define “enough” as doing what is required.  So how much patience, industriousness, or faithfulness, is required of me?  

And, if I am somehow meeting basic requirements in those areas, should I stop striving for more?  

I am NOT enough.

It’s never enough!  I can write “I am enough” all over my house, plaster it on all of my clothes, engrave it on my jewelry, and tattoo every inch of my body with that saying, yet I know in my heart it just isn’t true. No amount of positive self-talk or trying to convince myself that I am enough will permanently suppress the reality of my inadequacies.  

God makes this truth clear.  What does he require of me?  Jesus lays it out in his Sermon on the Mount:  “So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Matthew 5:48)

Perfection.  That is what is expected of me.  That is a pretty steep requirement, but it is what God demands. I am so, so far from being enough.  

This is clear in scripture as well.  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)  Every moment of every day, I fall short of what God requires.  I fall short; therefore, I am not enough.

I learned these truths years ago. Every day I am forced to acknowledge my inadequacies.  I bristle at the saying, “I am enough” because I know it simply isn’t true.  The reality is that I am not enough.  I can never be enough.

God knows that, too.  He knew it long before I did.  In his mercy, he created the solution to this impossible dilemma.

What is enough?

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  (2 Corinthians 5:21)  Jesus, God’s son, took our place.  He took our sins – our failures to be “enough” – upon himself.  “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Jesus has healed me.  The condemnation that should be mine because I am never enough has been removed.  (Romans 8:1)

What is enough?  God’s grace is enough.  The sufficiency of his grace – the width and length and height and depth of his love (Ephesians 3:18) – is incomprehensible to me.  A love of limitless dimensions.  God’s love is enough!  It fills me “to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  (v.19)  That is enough!  

I could try to convince myself all life long that I am enough, but it wouldn’t make it true.  The self-love this well-meaning idea promotes cannot fill the void that results from my daily failures.

It doesn’t matter what I or anyone else says about my adequacy or lack thereof.  The truth remains: I am not enough. And, dangerously, failing to admit this truth prevents me from acknowledging my need for a Savior.

What does matter – the only thing that matters – is what God says.  And not only what he says, but what he does. He says I am important enough that he would send his Son to save me. He promises that what Jesus did is enough to secure my eternal life in the mansions of heaven.

Truly Enough

People throughout history have struggled with their failed attempts to be good enough. Even many religions/churches emphasize a need for self-sufficiency as the way to salvation. People despair because they know they do not live up to what is required of them.

The following video (part of a series) highlights this age-long struggle by looking at people who have been a part of the Mormon church. Discovering the truth that “Jesus Is Enough” unburdens them of the weight of working out their own salvation, of being good enough on their own.

God says, “My grace is sufficient [Enough!] for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, with the apostle Paul, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”(2 Corinthians 12:9-10) 

I do not plan to buy a t-shirt or get a tattoo claiming I am enough. Working to convince myself that I can do it on my own leaves me without hope when I recognize how often I fall short.

Reliance on my own accomplishments or self-esteem lures me away from God and my need for a Savior. It steals from me the joy of the gospel and the truth of all that Jesus has done to make me worthy.

Rather, I confess and hand over my futile efforts to measure up and rejoice that Jesus has done enough. He has done it all for me and for you.

Jesus. Is. Enough.