You Are Not Enough ... and That is Good News!
Weaker Parts of the Body
Unity in a gathering can be difficult. It is common to have feelings of inadequacy or uselessness within the heart.
Our worth is often tied to what others say about us, rather than what our Father says.
In 1 Corinthians 12:15-16, ESV, Paul says this, “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.”
Even in our churches it is possible to look around at our other brothers and feel inadequate, or sorrowfully compare yourself to others.
How do we deal biblically with these feelings of inadequacy or uselessness? Where do we find our self-worth?
What do we do with our comparing heart and envy, perhaps even bitterness? What is the cause?
Below are the two most common:
Looking Within
This first happens when we look within ourselves for meaning, fulfillment, purpose, etc. And this idea is the air we breathe in the culture.
“You are enough,” or “You are a masterpiece,” and other slogans feel good. But the false hope of a Christian self-empowerment gospel will not rescue our hearts.
When you seek to find your identity, self-worth, or personhood within you will always feel useless. We will always fall short, feel like a failure — as the Scriptures say: you are a sinner, you are falling short (Romans 3:23).
Self is actually our enemy — Mr. Self is dangerous and deceptive! This is why Jesus’ command in Luke 9:23, ESV, still stands as both freeing and confrontational: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
We must renounce self. Only Jesus Christ pleased God. His death was to liberate you from God’s curse, and to free you from your flesh!
Looking at Others
We often compare ourselves then with others. Perhaps not so much with what we have, but with what we don’t have — and what they have.
This is what the foot and ear are doing. They aren’t saying: “I can only walk,” or “I only hear.”
Instead, they are looking to see what they aren’t or don’t have, and instead what others are and have.
So, our definition of ourselves, our self-worth, and our lives then become rooted in and dependent upon what and who others are. This is idolatry by definition!
We covet and we desire because we sinfully believe that we deserve better from God.
Could it be that God has ordered your life in such a way so that you would be surrounded by specific individuals in your church so as to expose these deep, buried sins in your heart of envy, self-pity, and pride?
John 15:1b-2, ESV, says, “my Father is the vinedresser … and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
God is a good gardener, and He loves you more than you do.
The Remedy
The simple remedy to our feelings of inadequacy is to look unto Christ. He is your Savior, He is enough, He can rescue you from you.
In Christ, we are no longer our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We have died and our lives are now hidden with Christ (Colossians 3:3). The Lord Jesus Christ is your life (Colossians 3:4).
Jesus frees us from the feelings of inadequacy by uniting Himself to us on the cross and in the resurrection. By faith you are in Christ and Christ is in you.
