Am I Good Enough for God?

 

Every Believer at some point in their Christian walk begins to doubt and asks themselves the question, am I good enough?    Even though we have the head knowledge that Jesus died for our sins and that we have been pronounced not guilty by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, those pesky doubts of unworthiness and feelings of not good enough creep back in.   We become discouraged and may spiral into struggles of besetting sin and a "what's the use?" attitude of "I'll never be good enough for God".  

Those thoughts right there are Satan's MO in an attempt to render God's children impotent in their Spiritual walks and their service to God.

I'd like to offer some encouragement for those of you who are struggling with feelings of not good enough by taking a deeper look at some of the questions you might ask yourself when doubts about whether you are good enough crowd out the Truth of who God says you are.

Am I Good Enough for God?

 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,  though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,  and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 
1 Timothy 1:12-14

The Apostle Paul was indeed a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent opponent of Jesus.  He persecuted Christians to uphold the traditions of his ancestors who did not believe in a Gospel of Grace, but the works of the law.   So if Paul, who was an enemy of God in the worst kind of way was saved by Grace and pronounced good enough, YOU are not only good enough in God's eyes, your are a testimony of His goodness.

As a Believer, the above verse serves as a reminder to preach the Gospel of Grace to yourself when you start asking,  am I good enough for God.   

And what does God say about your doubts of not feeling good enough? 

God says, I chose you before the foundations of the world to be my precious child, set apart for Me.   When I look at you, I see that you have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus who died for your sins.  I see NOT GUILTY written over you.   You are made in MY image.  You are my beloved creation and all that I create IS good!  

So the next time you feel doubts of am I good enough for God creeping in, remember not only are you good enough, you are absolutely PERFECT!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  

2 Corinthians 5:17

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live,

 but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh

 I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  

Galations 2:20

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for

 his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him 

who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.            

1 Peter 2:9

Am I Good Enough to Serve God?

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 15:16

Do you find yourself holding back if a ministry opportunity presents itself?  Has a Pastor, Elder, Deacon, fellow congregant or mentor seen something in you that they felt would be a good quality for a ministry position, but you just had this nagging feeling that you weren't good enough to serve God in that capacity or maybe in any capacity and declined?

By way of encouragement, I'd like to share what I learned from my own experience when I too wrestled with this question.

Years ago, when I was in the throws of my anxiety (you will find many blog posts on this site under the tag "anxiety" where I have shared about my struggle with anxiety and how God delivered me and continues to deliver me), I stepped out of my comfort zone and attended a Ladies Bible Study at my church.  After a year of participating in Ladies Bible Studies, I was approached by a seasoned Christian who pulled me aside and asked me if I would pray about being one of the Ladies Bible Study facilitators as she would be stepping down from that role.  Not only that, she asked if I would pray about being the lead mentor for our church's Mothers of Preschoolers group.  I confess that there was a part of me that wanted to say I would pray about it knowing full well I had decided no to the request, but I was good (see what I did there? lol) and I DID pray about it.  In the end, even though I was concerned about my Achilles heel of anxiety and not being good enough for those roles, I felt that the Lord was actually confirming a deep desire in my heart to serve in both of those positions.  You see, despite my anxiety, I had always envisioned myself speaking to women's groups and/or being in a women's ministry leadership position.  I know!  That seems counter to my anxiety! lol.  Had God not moved that sweet lady at church to see "my goodness", I would've never saw it in myself.  Fast forward 10 years, and I am now serving alongside my Associate Pastor husband as his helpmate, and I also serve as the women's ministry and women's Bible study leader at our church. 

Sometimes it takes someone else to see that you are good enough when you do not see yourself as good enough.  Heed their prompting, for you will be blessed.

Whether someone comes alongside of you and recognizes that you are good enough, all that really matters is that GOD says you are good enough.  For as the above verse from John states, He chose you and appointed you to bear fruit in His name by serving Him in whatever capacity He places before you.  

You ARE good enough to serve God, because He created you to do just that.

For we are his workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand,

 that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

Am I Doing Enough for God?

Have you ever felt guilty that you aren't doing enough for God?  Have you looked at another Believer's life and thought, "wow, look at all the ways she's serving God and I'm over here doing nothing for God..."

Although it is important to serve God, especially in your local church, it's important to look at what you are focusing on as service and how you are perceiving what that is "supposed" to look like.

There are different ways the question am I doing enough for God could be viewed.  The story of Mary and Martha offers insight...

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 

 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, 

and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

Martha is busy with all the preparations.  Is her work important?  Absolutely!  But she was focused on that as being the MOST important work.  Jesus gently reminded her that Mary's choice was better as she was sitting at Jesus' feet listening to His teachings.

When you find yourself in a season where it is hard to physically serve in the local church body or anywhere really such as being a busy young mom, having a sickness or disability, in the throws of family issues or in your sunset years and unable to get out, you are still good enough for God and are still doing enough for God.  

When you are in one of those seasons, it doesn't take the Christian out of the person or make you any less in God's eyes.  In fact, you probably cling to Him even more, much like Mary in the story above, and that indeed is enough for that season.  For God is not looking at your "to do list" for Him, He cares about one thing only and that is your relationship with Him.  If you've asked yourself the question, am I doing enough for God, you might be tending to focus too much on the activity of being enough for God rather than being still before God as enough for Him.

As you sit at the feet of Jesus, you will gain more insights on ways to do even more for God.  He will lead you spiritually and guide you physically.  When you are in close relationship with the Lord, you will always be doing enough for God because you will be worshiping Him in mind, body and Spirit.

Remember, the reality is we could never do enough for God to repay Him for what HE did for us!  But that is not said to discourage, but to encourage you that ALL that you do for Him is in actuality GOD doing it through you.  Therefore, all glory to God because HE does it all!

The next time you ask, Am I good enough for God?  Am I good enough to serve God?  Am I doing enough for God?  Answer yourself back with the Gospel of Grace.  Preach to yourself over and over again and those questions of doubt will turn into statements of Truth!

I AM GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOD

I AM GOOD ENOUGH TO SERVE GOD

I AM DOING ENOUGH FOR GOD

For similar posts, click on the following:

The Antidote for Feeling Like a Failure

How Does God Use My Failure?

The Epitome of Grace

Giving Yourself Grace - A Biblical Perspective

3 Biblical Ways You Are Called to Serve in Your Church

Four Practical Ways to Incorporate Service into your Daily Life

God's Call: The Lord Equips

God's Call: The Lord Sets Us Up For Success

God's Only Child - Me!

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