Jesus said you are enough.
Let’s talk about that.
I’ve been hearing this message increasingly often: the one that Christian leaders are broadcasting loud and clear – You are not enough.
I said I would never write or talk on my platform about politics or religion – not beyond the casual bible verse – but we’re about to go deeper than I ever intended to on this one.
First off, my pastor gave a sermon on this topic this last week, a guy I look up to for his wisdom, historical knowledge and bluntness, but he said something that doesn’t jive with me, and I’m hoping he simply has no idea what he’s talking about on this subject because he’s so far detached from those involved here.
He specifically called out bloggers who are spreading the “lie” that you are enough on your own, he called this message something along the lines of anti-Christ. I am a blogger who has built the foundation of my message on the concept that YOU ARE ENOUGH. Ya see my issue?
I have to point out, these are two totally different conversations we are having. For pastors to continue talking down on the You Are Enough Movement that’s happening is a major antibiblical move on their part. Jesus never said WE weren’t enough, he said our WORKS weren’t enough.
When I’m talking to a mom who’s feeling the weight of her responsibilities, the motherhood, the household, the marriage, the everything, and she’s becoming depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed (all feelings Jesus wants us to overcome) and she’s beginning to believe the lies of the enemy that she isn’t good enough for her husband, she doesn’t do enough around the house, she is strong enough to be the parent her children need, she believes she isn’t enough.
I’ve been that mom. I believed to my core that I wasn’t enough. Go read MY STORY if you need the details, but I was going to kill myself last year because this lie was so hardwired into my brain. If I’d heard a respected church leader say that I wasn’t enough at that time, I’m not sure I would have backed out.
I know friends who’ve left the church and the faith over this exact ideology. They were constantly made to feel less than, that they could never earn the love of Jesus. They lived in fear and shame over their decisions because they weren’t fitting the picture of a “good christian.” They were made to feel like they were nothing without Jesus, so they left him to find out. That’s a toxic relationship. If we’re called to have a relationship with Jesus, rather than a religion, then we should probably get to know the real Jesus.
Jesus never told anyone they weren’t enough. He didn’t walk around boasting that they were nothing without him. He did say no one comes to the Father except through him. He did say you’re works will never be enough to get a ticket into Heaven. He did say he’s the only way.
But that’s a very different argument.
In this episode of The Meant to Bloom Podcast, I talked about Leah too and her relationship with Jacob and Rachel and Laben. Now we don’t have a full account of the whole story, just the highlights. I don’t know what Laben told Leah about the marriage to Jacob – if he told her from the start that he was working for her hand rather than her younger sisters, or if he simply got the idea later to trick Jacob and convinced her to sneak into the tent in her sister’s place and steal her husband because he’d been emotionally abusing her for years telling her she’s not good enough, pretty enough, hard working enough to get her own husband.
We don’t know, but my guess is Leah was told all her life that she wasn’t enough, constantly compared to her prettier, younger sister, Rachel – that’s just my guess. I feel for Leah. Even her husband upon finding out he’d married the wrong sister goes running to her dad and immediately agrees to work another 7 years for the sister he really wanted – OUCH!
As far as we know, Leah is a perfect wife by ancient Hebrew standards, she’s bears Jacob son after son after son. Yet, he still only wants Rachel.
It seems everyone is convinced Leah isn’t enough, but God said she was enough. God continued to bless her, and in the end she’s the one who was buried with Jacob – which I think was a big deal for Hebrews?
You see, these pastors are claiming that you’re nothing without Jesus because you can’t get into Heaven without a relationship with him (that’s giving me Harley and Joker vibes, not gonna lie about that…). I beg to differ. God created us as whole human beings. He created us to be worthy of a life with him – if we weren’t, He wouldn’t want us!
You are qualified because you are called.
He didn’t call Moses because he was a great speaker,
He gives you what you need when you’re ready.
Either you let your worth be determined by man, or you believe the God who made you. You can’t have it both ways.
He knit you together in the womb.
He calls you a masterpiece.
He has a plan and a purpose for you.
He loves you so much he sent his only begotten son to die for you.
When you ask Jesus into your heart, he doesn’t reject the offer. He eagerly abides. Because you are enough for him. You don’t have to do anything extra.
Yeah, your works aren’t enough to get into Heaven, but when you approach those pearly gates and the bouncer – St Peter asks if your name is on the list, Jesus is ready to grab your hand and say – she’s with me, of course she’s enough.
If the sparrows are enough for him to care, how much more enough and worthy are you?
So which is it, you gonna believe the world’s message that you aren’t enough. Or are you going to believe the truth that you’re enough for Jesus to die for?
Brittni Clarkson 