When you feel like you're not enough
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” – 1 Timothy 1:7
I sat in my hotel room counting down the hours until I was set to present to a room full of women I didn’t know. While I should’ve been spending that time in communion with God, thanking Him in advance for the peace He gives and for the opportunity to share His love, my mind was flooded with fear and debilitating lies. “You’re not prepared. You’re not qualified enough. You’re about to be found out that you’re a fraud.”
Do you ever feel like that, friend? Fraudulent? Like at any moment the curtain will be opened and your imperfect identity will be revealed circa The Wizard of Oz?
As a parent. As a professional. As a wife. As a friend. As a Christian.
When this happens we have a choice to make: buy into the lies that we’re not enough or step into the light and believe the TRUTH that we are saved by the grace of God, and our renewal has already been made a reality because of Jesus’ redeeming blood.
We don’t have to be afraid of the future because our Spirit, the Spirit of God within us, is not created for fear. It’s rooted in love, power and discipline. As followers of Christ we can sit, better yet STAND in the freedom that we’re already called holy, loved and qualified by the creator of the universe.
That means you don’t have to wait for someone else to say you’re good enough, smart enough, or approved enough because Jesus already did. You’re already enough, sister.
Yes, as sinners we all know of some ways we can improve in our faith and in our day-to-day lives. However, that doesn’t mean you have to stay small until you reach that next milestone.
When you acknowledge to yourself and others that you’re a work in progress Christian while also stepping into the call to live a life on mission for Christ, you’re telling fear that it has no place in your life. You’re acknowledging your true identity as a child of God.
While I sometimes let fear win, I can tell you I didn’t in my hotel room that day. I recited 1 Timothy 1:7 which helped me remember my identity, embrace the freedom Christ already gifted me, and shut out the lies. God’s Word helped me choose freedom over fear and find the courage to share my story with others, resulting in deeper conversations with new friends and additional opportunities to glorify God.
When we believe the lies that we’re not enough, we’re letting sin win by allowing it to think that it has power over who we are. But when we believe that Christ’s sacrifice was enough to cleanse us and make us new, we’re telling sin it has no power here. We’re believing that Christ rewrote our story and is now guiding our future. Even in our brokenness and in our current state, Christ says we’re enough. Let’s start believing it!
Challenge: What are you waiting for? Whose approval are you waiting on? Use this message as a reminder to leave fear in the dust and find freedom in the fact that God’s loving, powerful, and discipline-filled spirit is within you, waiting for you to step into your true identity!
With so much love,
Jantzen
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Jantzen Jolly-Miller is a small business marketing professional and freelance faith writer who is on a mission to help women get real: real with themselves, with their business, and with their relationship with God and His church. In addition to being the lead content writer for Wheat and Honey Co., she blogs about personal takeaways from her life and faith walk to help women create positive change in their everyday routines at JantzenJollyMiller.com
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