Have you ever been told you are not good enough? Nobody likes to be told they are not good enough. Words have the power to tear us down, discourage, and frustrate us. Many people undergo identity crises because they internalize the feeling of not being good enough.
The fact of the matter is that we are all broken. We are born sinful and we all have various limitations. It is part of being human, and it is part of living in a fallen and broken word riddled with sin (Genesis 3). Furthermore, our feelings of failure compound when our family life is in disarray, our job is often times thankless, and we do not feel appreciated by others. But is there a positive side to not being good enough? I would contend there is.
Why not being good enough is a good thing
Let’s be honest, we have been told all of our lives that the way to success is to always succeed, not fail, at all costs. Nobody likes to fail. Yet we do. Secularism preaches that we are to achieve success by whatever means necessary. The problem with the secular view of success is the mentality that “everyone should fend for themselves.”
So what do we wind up with? Feelings of failure. We fall into depression. We give way to anxiety and fear. We develop an inferiority complex. Meanwhile we wonder why we feel this way, since post-modernism holds to the view that we are the center of the universe and that we were born good.
But if we look deep within ourselves, we soon realize we are not good. We are depraved (i.e. Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:1–3). Compared to a holy and perfect God, we are certainly not good enough. But it is in understanding this reality that we have much to gain.
Understanding we are not good enough can lead us to …
- Deeper humility (Colossians 3:12)
- Being free from always trying to prove ourselves worthy of favor (2 Corinthians 12:9)
- Trying to impress others (1 Thessalonians 2:4)
- Appreciate what we already have rather than always looking for breakthroughs that may or may not happen (2 Peter 1:3)
A friend recently expressed his fear about a new job he was offered. He told me he didn’t feel like he was good enough for the role. I told him, “That’s great!”, too his amazement. Then, I explained to him that when we think we are good enough to do things it means we won’t need to rely on the Lord’s strength for the task ahead. It means we have fooled ourselves into thinking “we have arrived.” But the fact of the matter is that none of us have or ever will arrive.
The One Who is Good Enough for Us
You see, Christ is the best at being good enough. He is perfect. He was sinless. He lived a perfect life, went to the cross, died for our sins, and was buried and raised three days later, and his sacrifice was good enough. It was good enough to destroy Satan, death, and all that is evil. Paul puts it this way,
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life – Romans 5:8–10
The positive side of not being good enough is that:
- We don’t have to prove our worth to others, we can simply rest in the fact that we have everything we need in Christ (2 Pet 1:3)
- When we are discouraged, we can always draw from the oasis of God’s presence (Psalm 46:1).
- Life may be hard, filled with hurt, pain, and uncertainty, but we can rest assured that one day our hope will be complete, because Christ’ sacrifice for us on the cross was good enough (Hebrews 10:10).
- Christ is sufficiently sufficient to fill us with joy no matter our circumstances (1 Thess 5:16–18).
A couple of days ago I felt pretty discouraged. I even shared my feelings of discouragement and frustration with my wife. She listened so well. Literally the next day, after turning all of my anxieties to the Lord I received a large monetary gift in the mail, and a young worker at Chipotle (which I really like!) approached me and offered to pray for me! How cool is that?
God knows exactly what we need and when we need it. It’s okay not be good enough, because God is more than good enough for you and I. So …
Embrace your insufficiency and turn to Christ who is sufficiently enough to overcome all your insufficiencies through his sufficient power!
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. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Written by Daniel Messina