Am I Good Enough?

"Am I good enough?" It's a question that we all ask at one point or another. It's a question I've asked a lot lately. For some reason, I've started to believe the lies that I've so desperately tried to avoid. (Which is why I'm SUPER excited for the new series my youth group started called "Lie to Me".)

I've noticed that I've opted out of doing things because I'm afraid to fail. This includes photography things, procrastinating on school assignments... I actually can't think of an area that isn't affected by the fear. (How stupid...) 

So, I've wrestled with this question for a few weeks going back and forth between "yes, of course I'm good enough," (which is very prideful) and "No, I'm no where close to good enough." (which is also prideful (false humility, I think.)) 

Well, I've come to a conclusion.

Surprisingly, the answer isn't yes or no- it's both.

On my own I'm the worst person ever. I've messed up and disappointed myself and others around me too many times to count. I have a messy room, I'm prideful, I can be annoying, I'm a terrible procrastinator and I think thoughts that I shouldn't think. If I were to stop here, you would think, "Omygoodness, what is wrong with you?" (You may already be thinking that and that's alright.)

But I'm not going to stop there.

With God, I'm redeemed. He covers all of my sins and He sees me as His child and He calls me His. He loves me despite my shortcomings and failings. He made me alive. This explains it better:

{As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do.}

-Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV

On our own, we are objects of wrath. We're as good as dead. However, God comes along and changes EVERYTHING. He saved us in His grace and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms. With God, we are good enough because He covers us. There is no reason for us to be afraid to fail, because God will cover us. When we are weak, He is strong. We are His and He loves us and that is all that matters.

His Mercy and His Grace are endless.