You Are Enough

At some point many of you are going to hit a wall. Maybe you already have and you feel like you are just spinning your wheels. You have too much to do, you feel like you are drowning, and you just don’t know how much more you can take.

Thankfully, if you are hitting a wall, our modern culture has a feel good message for you that will rescue your aching soul, “you are enough.” We have been talking about lies that our culture teaches that are almost true. They sound good, but they lead to death. We’ve already talked about the almost truth that teaches to believe “your truth” instead of God’s truth. We also talked about the almost truth that you should “love yourself” first, opposed to what Jesus said is the most important command, which is to love God and to love others.

If you are hitting a wall our modern culture has an almost true message for you that sounds great. You are exhausted from work, from chasing kids around, or from life piling up on you, then you read an encouraging article that says, “Remember, you are enough!”

You are trying to stay on top of bills, but they just keep coming. You are struggling to survive financially, but then you catch a video from one of your favorite influencer and he says, “You can do it, you have what it takes!”

You are feeling discouraged, depressed, or anxious and so you listen to a motivational podcast and they say, “You are complete just as your are!”

Everywhere you turn you hear this message. “YOU ARE ENOUGH! So believe in yourself. You’ve got this. You have what it takes. You define your worth. You’re in control. You write your story. You are perfect just the way you are!” You want to believe that you are enough. It sounds good. You are good enough. You are talented enough. You are smart enough. You are strong enough. How many of you stand in front of the mirror every morning and recite Stuart Smalley’s Daily Affirmations? “You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like you.”

You want to believe it, but why don’t you FEEL like you’re enough? The reason you don’t feel like enough is because you are NOT enough! More accurately…

Without Christ, you are not enough.

Pray

So what’s the big deal? We know that we need Christ and TECHNICALLY we are not enough without Him. Sometimes I’m feeling down and feeling stuck and I just need to believe that I am enough. Admittedly, the “You are Enough” motivation sounds good. It does make you feel better. It feels true, but it’s not true. I would argue that it is a dangerous false Gospel where the savior in your life is YOU!

Paul warns us about these ideas and philosophies that subtly take our minds off of Christ. He calls it nonsense and it changes our focus from being complete in Christ to relying on ourselves… Col 2:8-10

Colossians 2:8–10 (NLT)

8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ...

You are complete, not in your own strength, not by your own power, but you are complete through your union with Christ. “You are enough is an empty philosophy. It’s nonsense. It’s human thinking. It comes from the spiritual powers of this world because on your own you will never be enough. On your own you will never be complete. We are only made complete through Christ. Without Christ we can never be enough!

This dangerous and destructive lie typically attacks you in one of two ways. You think, “I gotta be enough, I gotta be enough, I’m enough, I’m enough, I’m enough.” One extreme is that you suddenly realize “I wasn’t enough.” What happens when you think you should be enough but you don’t feel like enough? You start to feel guilty. You feel ashamed. You feel like a failure. Since you’re not enough and you try so hard to be enough, you take your eyes off God and put them on yourself.

The other extreme is that culture says, “You’re enough, you have what it takes,” and you start to believe it. You say, “Well, maybe I am enough.” Then you start to believe that you are the source of your joy, the source of your strength, and the source of your success. That is dangerous because you start to take your eyes off of God and put them on yourself. Here is the problem…

When you believe you’re enough, you won’t seek the One who is.

Before we talk about the One who is more than enough, it is important to understand how “NOT ENOUGH” we are. Sometimes we think about other people and their mistakes and we may think, “Well, I’m not that bad. I am way better than most.” When we start thinking like that it is important to remind ourselves what God’s Word says about who we are without Christ…

Without Christ, We Are…

Dead in our sins. (Ephesians 2:1 “1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”)

Without hope and without help. (Ephesians 2:12 “12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”)

Foolish, deceived, and slaves to sin. (Titus 3:3 “3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”)

Spiritually blind. (1 John 2:11 “11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”)

Wretched and miserable. (Romans 7:24 “24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”)

Ignorant, separated from the life of God. (Ephesians 4:18 “18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”)

Objects of wrath, destined for destruction. (Romans 9:22 “22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,”)

The danger is when we think, “Well I’m not a bad person. I’m better than most. I have a good heart. I do good things.” Coming from a works-based church, it is very easy to slip into that kind of thinking. It is very easy to pull out the scales and see just how good we are and start thinking of ourselves in terms of “good enough.” The hard truth is that we are NOT good enough. We never could be good enough. Paul says it this way…

Romans 3:10–12 (NLT)

10 As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one... 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”

When it comes to “our” sin, we all like to think that we aren’t that bad. I mean, we could always imagine worse. We see our sin and compare it to others and think, “I’m not so bad. I’m probably good enough.” What happens when we see our sin in comparison to God and His Holiness? Compared to God’s perfection, our sin looks horrific!

It makes even more sense if we look at sin from a different perspective. What we have to realize is that sin isn’t just a Legal or Spiritual Offense against a Holy and Judicial God. It’s not like I broke the law and sinned against a Holy and Judicial God. I did break the law, but it is so much more than that. It’s a personal offense against a relational God who loves you so very much.

When you get a speeding ticket you don’t hurt the police officer’s feelings. You broke the law. It was a legal issue, not personal. I’ve never seen a police officer cry and say, “I can’t believe you were going 75 in a 65! You made me so sad.” But sin against a spouse is different. It’s not a legal offense, but a relational offense. When recounting the story of her husband who had been cheating on her, one woman said, “He didn’t just break our vows, he broke my heart.”

When we sin against God it’s not just legal, it’s personal. It’s relational. We’re not just breaking God’s laws, we are breaking God’s heart.

Is everyone feeling uplifted and encouraged yet? I like to teach positive and encouraging messages. Seriously though, I am already a Christian. Why tell me that I’m not good, but I am depraved and sinful.

To fully treasure what you have “in Christ,” you need to remember what you were without Him.

Who were you without Christ? You might say I lied, stole, cheated, hurt people. I was an addict, I had a problem and I couldn’t stop. Then I met Jesus.

Remembering my darkness, my brokenness, and my sinfulness reminds me of God’s goodness, His kindness, and His forgiveness.

Instead of trying to convince yourself that you are enough, I would encourage you to embrace your “Not-Enough-ness.” You are not enough. You will never be enough. You can’t be enough and it’s not bad news, it’s GOOD NEWS! It’s good news because you don’t have to be enough! In Christ you are so much more than just enough…

Ephesians 2:1–5 NLT

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

Many of us think about our lives before Christ like we were drowning in an ocean. That’s when God came along, reached out an arm and said, “I’ll never let go, Jack!” Only, instead of actually letting go, God didn’t let go and we grabbed His hand and climbed up into the boat. We pulled ourselves in.

That’s not what the Bible says. Scripture says that you were DEAD! Face down in the dirt, to late, to far gone, DEAD. That’s when God came along, and He pulled us up. God brought you back to life. You did NOTHING!

When you encountered God, you walked into the room Spiritually dead. You were a zombie, having the appearance of life, but inside you were dead. But God is so rich in mercy and He loved you so much that even though you were dead because of sin, He gave you life.

2 Corinthians 3:4–5 ESV

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,

If you are feeling overwhelmed, you don’t know how much more you can take, you are tired of pretending, and tired of looking like you have it all together, embrace your Not-Enough-ness! You were made to NEED JESUS! You don’t have to try to be enough. Here is some good news straight from scripture…

The Good News

You’re helpless, but Jesus is your helper. (Hebrews 13:6 “6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””)

Your’e weak, but Jesus is your strength. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10 “9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”)

You’re depressed, but Jesus is your hope. (2 Thessalonians 2:16 “16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,”)

You’re exhausted, but Jesus is your rest. (Matthew 11:28 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”)

You’re anxious, but Jesus is your peace. (John 14:27 “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”)

You’re struggling financially, but Jesus is your provider. (Philippians 4:19 “19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”)

You’re hurting, but Jesus is your comforter. (2 Corinthians 1:3–4 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”)

You’re in bondage, but Jesus is the Savior who sets you free. (John 8:36 “36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”)

This is how much God loves you. He doesn’t make you do it on your own. He created you with an inherent need for Him. Without Him we will never be enough, but in Christ we are made complete. He completes you. He will never leave you.

In what area of your life are you relying on yourself instead of God? What is God calling you to do about it?

For me, I have been relying on myself far too much when it comes to my health. I lost a lot of weight a few years ago, but then life happened and I gained quite a bit of it back. Since then I have been telling myself, “You can get healthy. You can do it. You can do it. You have to do it.” I have been relying on myself.

Over the last couple of months God has been calling me to stop relying on myself and rely on Him. He put the men’s breakfast on my heart. I know that as guys, we tend to be very self-reliant. God is teaching me to stop relying on my own strength and call on Him. One way He is doing that is by getting together with other guys and call on Him together.

God loves it when we realize that we need Him. He loves to be needed. This is what God says to us in scripture…

God Says to You…

Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you...”

Psalm 50:15 “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you...”

Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call on him...”

Psalm 86:7 “In the day of my trouble I call upon you...”

Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Here is the good news. You are NOT enough, and you don’t have to be! You are not enough. You never will be enough. All you have to do is depend on God! God’s power is bigger than your stress. Bigger than your fears. Bigger than your anxiety. Bigger than your family problems. Bigger than your worst mistake. Bigger than your financial failure. Bigger than your betrayal. Bigger than your diagnosis.

God can do MORE than we could ever be capable of. On your own you are NOT enough and you will never be enough, but you are loved, rescued, accepted, chosen, forgiven, adopted, freed, redeemed, restored, renewed, you can face all things through Christ who gives you strength.

We are not enough, but Jesus is more than enough. Call on Him. In what area are you relying on yourself instead of God? What is God calling you to do about it?

Pray