I struggle with worthiness. So many times, I feel like I’m not good enough, or strong enough, or wise enough to take on life or to take on God’s forgiveness. I am a Christian, and I believe that I am saved by the Grace of Jesus, but in the heat of the moment, in the midst of my brokenness, I feel that maybe God is mad at me, or ashamed to be affiliated with me because of what I’ve thought or what I’ve done, or worse yet… maybe He’s just stopped forgiving me. I look at other ‘super’ Christians who rely on God for everything, I look at people who have their lives all together, and I envy them. I want to be like that, I want to trust that Christ is with me, but every time I try it, I get this feeling like I’m just not good enough.
Has anyone else felt like that?
There are times in your life, when all of your fear, uncertainty, and mistakes start to take a hold on your life. Whatever you’re struggling with, your mistakes all tell you the same thing. They will tell you that you are broken beyond repair. They will tell you that you are worthless. They will tell you that it is all your fault. They will tell you that you don’t have the strength to make it. They will say that you are unforgivable. They will surround you with darkness and doubt, bind your hands and feet with the weight of depression. They will say you don’t have what it takes. They might say that you must hurt yourself in order to make up for the wrong you have done. They will say it is impossible for you to be loved. It will call you a whore, a menace, a misfit, outcast, a basket case.
From this point forward, I dare you to do something crazy: Don’t listen.
Don’t give into those lies! You are beautiful. You are loved. You are an amazing creation of God. Believe it or not, there is a God out there who wants you. Not what you should be, not what you need to be, not what the world says you should be. He wants you, just as you are, even with every blemish, every scar, every mistake. Unlike the world, He is willing to look past all the dirt of your life and say, “I love you, I want you, and I want to be your Father.”
When you ask Him to come into your life, He adopts you into His family. He becomes your Father. This Dad won’t leave, no matter what you do or what you have done. He is happy to have you just the way you are. Here’s the best part, nothing we can do will change that.
To those who feel like you’re not good enough, here is my dare for you: Take your eyes off of your brokenness.
Stop looking at yourself as something worthless. I dare you to look away from every mistake, every blemish, every sin in your life, and keep your eyes fixed on what Jesus has done for you. You’re loved by the King of kings. Take hold of that love. If you trust Jesus, if you asked Him to come into your life, he has forgiven you. (1 John 1:9) You are already perfect through the cross of Christ.
Paul says it perfectly in Hebrews 12,
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
It’s time to throw off your sin and fix your eyes on Jesus. His Grace is enough, I promise.
SHINE516 