Never Good Enough

Last week, I went to a Bible study about how we are perfect in Christ. It was meant to combat the lie that we believe about how we are never good enough.

My immediate reaction to the introduction was to think, "Great! I know this one! I don't believe that lie anymore!" I was excited. Significant progress has been made in this area, folks.

Some of the verses we looked at were

• For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10)
• For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10)
• Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
• Son though he [Jesus] was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:8-10)

And my personal favorite

For by one sacrifice he [Jesus] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:14)

We were then asked to do a few things on our own:

1. Think through the moments when you're not good enough.
2. Think through what it would look like to turn to God in those moments.
3. Confess when you don't believe you're good enough.

I started with that first command. I began to think through the moments when I wasn't good enough. In less than 30 seconds, I had thought of nearly 10 moments when I wasn't good enough that day. 

Sick.

Last Sunday, I realized that I keep this phrase carved into my heart instead of temporarily written on my hand. Stink.

The worst part about it all was that some moments when I'm not good enough are beyond my control. Example: my voice is high pitched and quiet, so it's harder for older people to hear when I'm speaking through a microphone. 

Friends, I can't make my voice different. If I could, I would have a long time ago. But I spent the day silently judging myself for it and so many other things. 

As I sat in Bible study, I stared at Hebrews 10:14. For by one sacrifice he [Jesus] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Jesus has already made me perfect! And right now, I'm being made holy!

At first, that doesn't seem to make sense. One action is done. The other is in progress. I'm perfect (complete) in Jesus. In him, I'm good enough. 

And in Jesus, I'm being made holy. I'm being refined. I'm being set apart. I'm not fully there yet, but some day I will be. And the being made holy thing isn't my doing. It's the result of Jesus and what he's done. Hence the "being made" verbage.

That night, I needed a visual for this awesome truth, and this is what happened:

The fact that I'm perfect is Christ is the source of everything. It's the source of my holiness. And it helps me have a new mindset about how I'm "good enough" in the ways he made me to be. You see, sometimes I think the tree works the other way. I think I have to make myself holy and that the fruit is that perfection in Jesus. But that's not it! 

My perfection in Jesus isn't fruit. It's not the product. It's the thing in which I am rooted. My perfection in Jesus is what produces the other stuff!

I'm rooted in the truth. I'm good enough because Jesus is good enough, and he's doing some intense work to make me holy. 

Friends, when we're in Jesus, we're FOREVER made perfect and we are being made holy. Because of that good news, we can cast aside our "never good enough" lies and simply trust our new identity that are the result of Jesus' actions.