I am not Enough (and that's ok)

I didn’t know what to title this blog… perhaps I will end with a title? But for now: I am not enough, and that's ok will remain.

I believe this is a series. A 3rd part to the previous blogs: God is Love, and Jesus Saves.

If you have yet to read those I encourage you to check those out before continuing here. God is love was one of my first journal entries (in regard to the faith). I had to do a follow-up to God is Love with Jesus saves, because both connect, and collectively tie into the other. You can not express God's love without Christ's sacrifice. And here I am now, closing this series with the focus on Christ’s Righteousness.

I'll be honest, I was going to bypass this entry.. a huge part of me didn’t think I was “qualified” to take this on…(could’ve been the enemy) but here I am typing away faithfully (Glory to God). These entries are a tall order. It's hard to comprehend God's love and Christ's righteousness (and to sum it all up within a few pages) but I want to share, not only experience but scripture that breaks down the meaning and context, and offer insight to readers to further understand. I don’t expect every reader to “get it” but the whole inspiration for writing this blog arose from getting to the basics, sharing what I have learned, and what I am continuing to learn in the faith. Regardless of the tall order, I just want to use this outlet to share the good news, while obediently doing so.

After I had my first son Roman, my cousin Amanda came to visit us. She brought along her children and a generous gift for the baby. I’ll never forget the thought she put into this present. She even got me a coffee mug. The coffee mug said, “Best Mom Ever”. Wow, I thought what a compliment coming from an incredible Mother herself. She hasn’t even seen me in my new role as a Mother, and she gifted me with this. Though I felt honored, I avoided drinking out of it because I just didn’t feel worthy enough to hold title of “Best Mom Ever”. Some may read this thinking you deserve it, or, you are thinking too deeply about it... it’s just a mug girl. But truthfully, it was a hard recognition of my failures.

Anyone who has had a newborn knows the challenges you face. Becoming a Mother smacked me in the face with the realization that I am not enough even on my best days. It challenged all my notions of perfection. It removed any illusions that I could somehow give my newborn everything he ever wanted. I failed to show up happily inviting every cry. I tried to imagine every parent knows this, and that it’s ok to not be “enough”. Yet when I admitted, and owned the fact that I am not enough, that even on my best days I fall short. I finally discovered the 'power' that “I am enough” failed to offer me. I know I’m a good Mom, heck a wonderful Mom, but the best? No, because I am not perfect enough to hold such a title, and the great news is.. that it's ok.

(insert breath of relief)

I share this because it is relative to my walk of faith. As I’ve mentioned before, my walk has been progressive. Often I reflect on how I lived then, to how I live now. I hold grace for those progressing in their faith. When I say “ I’m saved” let it be known this does not mean that I am special, or self- righteous. I once thought I was saved simply because I was seeking Christ, growing slowly in my faith. but I lived no different from how I was prior.

During the early progress of coming to faith I remember having a conversation with my Husband and though I don’t remember what exactly it was about, I remember feeling discouraged in regards to not being enough. I felt like there was such a high standard on how I was to be, and how I was to live. That God's requirements weren't ever something I would be able to obtain on my own attempts as a 'Christian'. I said the words “what’s the point", "if we aren’t ever going to be good enough then what’s the point in following"? It felt unattainable to be enough in general, for any role. I was starting to recognize that I’ll never be good enough, or holy enough, and my Husband said to me “that’s the whole point”. Here, I was on the verge of giving up. Prior to true conversion, I was ready to toss the towel because “what’s the point”.

Similar to something my Mom once told me during the early stages of parenting, “I was trying too hard”. Salvation is not something we work for. No amount of good-works helps us gain God's favor or merit His grace. The bible says: No one is righteous not one. And no, our “goodness” doesn’t remove our shortcomings or our sin, nor does any amount of good works. Only Christ can. And has.

There is nothing we could do to save ourselves. We could never be good enough. We could never work hard enough. We could never be perfect enough. Ah… but we don’t have to. You/I are not enough. And that’s exactly why Jesus gave His life for us. Here's an encouraging reminder: Jesus's last words were “It is finished”.

The good news comes in 2 Corinthians 5:21 when Paul says that even though Jesus “knew no sin,” He was made to be sin (by his death on the cross) so that “we might become the righteousness of God.” In other words, Jesus covered our not enough-ness with His enough-ness to make us enough before God. Jesus IS enough, and when we put our faith and trust in him, we find peace with God.

What Is Imputed Righteousness?

Before we can understand imputed righteousness, let’s understand what “imputed” means. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary,

impute: means to credit or ascribe something to a person.

righteousness: means to be in the right standing, or right position, before someone.

When put together, imputed righteousness means right standing or right positioning has been credited to you before God. You can also think of it as an exchange or transfer. Jesus is righteous by the virtue of His very nature—He is the Son of God. By God’s grace, “through faith in Jesus Christ,” that righteousness is given “to all who believe” (Romans 3:22).

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Romans 3:23

Sin affects us to the very core of our being, and no matter how good we try to be, or how holy we try to live, we will never meet God’s standard of perfection on our own. This doesn’t mean we should give up, like I previously mentioned when I once said “what’s the point”. It was only at that point when I realized "I can’t be enough” which was the hard truth I needed to accept. By having the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, we can be seen as sinless, as Jesus is sinless.

This IS amazing grace! We are sinners by nature, and we cannot make ourselves righteous—we cannot place ourselves in the right standing with God. We are not righteous in ourselves; rather, God sees Christ’s righteousness applied to us. It is not our “perfection” but Christ’s that God sees when He brings us into fellowship with Himself. We are still sinners, but God is gracious, and has declared us to have righteous standing because Jesus paid the price. We need the righteousness of Christ imputed to us because we have no righteousness of our own.

"On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself and purchased our salvation. We have “been justified by his blood” (Romans 5:9). “For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21".

A wonderful illustration of Christ’s imputed righteousness is found in Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet (Matthew 22;1-14). Guests are invited to the King’s celebration from every street corner, and they are brought in, “the bad as well as the good” (Matthew 22:10). All the guests have something in common: they are each given a wedding garment. They are not to wear their street clothes in the banquet hall but are to be dressed in the garment the King had provided. They are covered in a gracious gift. In a similar way: we, as guests invited into God’s house, have been given the robe of Christ’s righteousness. We receive this gift of God’s grace by faith. During the feast, the King noticed a man who was not wearing the wedding garment. When asked how he came to be there, the man had no answer and was promptly escorted from the feast “outside, into the darkness". Jesus then ends the parable with this statement:

“for many are called, but few are chosen”. (also translated to "For many are invited, but few are chosen").

Just as the King provided wedding garments for his guests, God provides salvation for mankind. Our wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ, and unless we have it, we will miss the wedding feast. The man escorted out had remained in his street clothes (there was no change). The Parable of the Wedding Feast is also a warning to us, to make sure we are relying on God’s provision of salvation, not on our own good works. Religion is man's attempt to work his way toward God, whereas in the Gospel- we see God's attempt to reach man/woman through Jesus. The cross is the only way to salvation (John 14:6)

"The gospel tells me two truths, and holds both at full value : In myself, I am not enough. In Him, however, I am more than enough. When I admit I’m not enough, I’m freed to run and cling to the God who is. In him, I far exceed enough". -Me

Why do we need Christ’s righteousness: We need his imputed righteousness because we don’t have the ability to obtain it on our own. To simplify- without Christ’s righteousness being imputed to us, we would have no hope of salvation, no hope of justification, and no hope of redemption.

"Justification is a one-time act; sanctification is a continual process".

 What would you give to know for sure that your legal acceptance and approval before God was as sure as the standing of His son, Jesus Christ ?

It's free. This is what Christ the Savior came to do: die a death that would remove all our sins and become for us a perfect righteousness. You will not need the approval/validation of others. You can be ok with admitting to your failed attempts at being enough. Look away from yourself and onto Christ and His righteousness.

The best part about imputed righteousness is that God desires to credit it to anyone willing to believe and receive it. You can receive the free gift of righteousness God offers through faith in Jesus Christ. After truly accepting the good news, following repentance of sin, there will come a point when the inward reality of the righteousness of Christ must shape your outward daily life. This requires obedience, and an obligation—not to the old ways of living, but to the new life you have been given in Christ. Alike the guests invited to the wedding feast, who showed up willingly.

What should you do once Christ’s righteousness is imputed to your account? Live like it. 

If you have been saved, live like it.

If you have been set free from sin, live like it. 

If you have been justified by faith, live like it.

If you have been declared righteous as He is righteous, live like it.

Jesus wants us to recognize our weakness, and limitations so we will learn to depend on him. He supplies what we lack. As we navigate this life we will quickly find that we are not enough. But with Him and in Him, we have everything we need, because He is enough, and until Jesus is enough for you nothing else will be. Trust me, I can attest to this, and I hope many readers can as well.

Dwell in the Lord & delight in His ways.