“Hey Dad, I got the silver medal!”
I had just come running through the door after returning from my first high school wrestling competition. I won the silver medal at the provincials so I was excitedly waving my medal around telling Dad about my conquest, hoping to get some affirmation. What I received was not exactly what I was looking for…
“Why didn’t you get the gold?!”
Ouch.
It was an innocuous enough comment though. My dad wasn’t being harsh or critical; he simply asked a fair question. When he saw the dejection on my face he quickly said that silver is really good too.
However, the damage had been done. Not so much from his comment, but from the work of the one who is at war with those who bear the image of God. The lie that went deep into my impressionable heart was that I was not good enough. Second place was not good enough. I had to win to be acceptable.
This incident set me off on trajectory that led me to being a driven man who had to win. And, if I didn’t know I could win, well then I simply wouldn’t participate – I would withdraw. I became a ‘puffer fish’ and a ‘chameleon’.
Now I know that my story is not unique. I am willing to venture a guess that 100% of the men reading this e-visional have all heard this lie and swallowed it hook, line and sinker. “You are not good enough.” “You are not smart enough.” “You are not strong enough.” “You are not successful enough”, etc., etc. – you get the picture.
This is a strategy sent to keep us from offering who we are. To keep us from offering the man God has created, crafted and called us to be. These lies are meant to convince us that who we are and what we have to give isn’t up to standard, so just don’t bother to offer yourself – you’re not good enough.
Sit down, shut up and disengage.
There is a secret to getting free from this debilitating lie: agree with it.
Yup, agree with it – you are not good enough. But keep in mind, it’s true but it’s not the Truth. Is it true that we are not ‘good enough’ in God’s eyes – that we fall short of His glory and His standards? Yes, or course. We have a disease called sin. We are broken. We are imperfect. If that was the end of the story we would be hooped. But it’s not the end of the story. If all we knew was that we are infected with an incurable disease called sin then we would be hopeless indeed.
But Jesus is the cure.
Our ‘not good enough’ is trumped by His ‘I am enough’! Jesus is enough and that changes everything. We will only be truly free when we can in humility admit our brokenness, our shortcomings, our sin, our failures and offer them to Jesus. Our ‘not enough’ is transformed by His ‘more than enough’.
When we are weak, then we are strong. We can learn to boast in our weaknesses, just as Paul did, so that we can know the strength of Christ even more. What is impossible for man is possible for God. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
So, the next time you get those condemning and debilitating thoughts that you are not good enough simply say, “I know I am not good enough. I know I am flawed and broken. However, that isn’t the end of the story. Jesus is enough. What is impossible for me is possible for God. I boast in my weakness because when I am weak Jesus can be my strength. God loves me just as I am and He’s not done with me yet. The fact that I am not good enough – and recognize it – qualifies me for the grace of God.”
God doesn’t help those who help themselves, He helps the helpless who know it. He helps those who know they aren’t good enough and come to Him who is more than enough.
Yes, our ‘not good enough’ is replaced by His ‘I am enough’ – and that’s good enough for me!
II Corinthians 12:9
“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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Philippians 4:13
“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
Mark 10:27
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’”