When my brothers and I were fighting and fussing around with one another, my mom would break through the chaos with her favorite phrase, “Enough is enough!” We often found it comical but knew that she meant business with those words. 

As I have grown into adulthood, the word, enough, rings differently than it did in my youth. A common theme through many conversations with family and friends, most often women, but not always, revolves around the word enough. People dwell on being enough in almost every aspect of life. Maybe you have wallowed in a sea of not enough yourself. 

We tell ourselves we are not thin enough, not smart enough, not successful enough, not patient enough, not creative enough, not educated enough, not talented enough. 

Enough is enough!

God created you on purpose, for a purpose. He welcomes you just as you are. You are already enough through Christ. Without Him, we aren’t enough and weren’t created to be. God covers that for us, and He made us depend on Him for everything. 

Alone, we are an impure and sinful people. We are not capable of doing anything of value without Christ. “We are all an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6

A friend adopted an 18-month-old girl. When she took her to the store to pick out earrings. She and the clerk discussed what type of metal was best for the toddler. The clerk asked what type of metal she currently had and had gotten her ears pierced with. My friend, the new mom, responded honestly, “I don’t know, she came with them.” This friend and her husband brought their daughter into their home just as she was, earrings and all. 

God welcomes us the same way. We can come to Him with our flaws and sins. His love for us covers our shortcomings. He uses our mistakes and failures to teach us more about Him, to show His mercy, and to encourage others as they find themselves unable to measure up. We are tempted to look to others for approval in a cookie cutter world. 

What if God never wanted us to live for the world? What if God has a completely different set of standards for us? He does! God has absolutely no intention of us living in a cookie cutter world where the “enoughs” are defined by a culture that has little desire for the things of Heaven. 

I have often been caught making a list of requirements for myself that do not line up with what God wants for me. I do not have to look to my spouse, parents, children, or anyone else for happiness and approval. I am already enough for my creator, and seeking to be more like Christ will always be enough for my Lord and Savior. Are you working to please others or even trying to please yourself? 

Edit your to do list, take it to the cross, and hand God the pen. When we let Christ write His will for our lives, we will feel peace and reassurance that we are enough. When we quit trying to be like other people, halting the human approval, and seeking God’s plan, we will find that we can step into confidence that God created us for a special purpose, His purpose. We all come with baggage, sins, or earrings, but God welcomes us, declaring that with Him, we are enough. 

“Whenever you feel unloved, unimportant or insecure, remember to whom you belong.” 

Ephesians 2: 19-22

Contact Ashley at ashley@tippgazette.com

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Tippecanoe Gazette

Attn: Ashley Spring McCarroll

PO Box 84

Tipp City, Ohio 45371