You Are Enough Because
Jesus Makes You Enough
My Story with Jesus
Scripture Connection
Ephesians 2:8-10
When I was a little girl, I wanted to know God. I’d open my little Bible up and read it all alone. One time, I remember praying one enormously powerful prayer in my dark room: “God, if you’re real, I want to know you. Will you help me?”
He did but first by showing me how I needed endless amounts of help!
As I read the Bible’s high standard—of loving God and others as ourselves—I knew I didn’t live up to how God asked me to live. As the youngest child of eight, I was reminded daily of how I failed at loving others as myself. But I still didn’t realize how I could live the life God wanted for me with him. I was missing something—really, someone—important.
Thankfully, years later when I was in college, my friend invited me to a gathering where I heard about how to know God in a way I never had before. I told her, “I don’t understand why so many people always talk about Jesus.” She explained that the gap between how I wanted to live and the way I really did live was a gap Jesus came to fill. Jesus was the connection to God that I had been missing.
As I read the Bible’s high standard—of loving God and others as ourselves—I knew I didn’t live up to how God asked me to live.
My friend sat with me, our legs dangling over the lofted bed in my dorm room, and we ventured through the Bible’s pages. First, I found out I wasn’t alone: Everyone falls short of God’s perfection (Romans 3:23). Whew, it’s not just me, I thought. No one is good enough on their own to merit a close friendship with God.
Then, she pointed me to hope: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 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 2:8-10, NLT).
I knew a lot about boasting! I was voted “most likely to succeed” in my high school, having nearly straight As. As a student at Stanford University, not only did I know a lot about striving but everyone around me did, too. In my first week alone, I had met an Olympian and a Rose Bowl Parade princess. I found myself in a place where people could have bragged about a lot of things . . . from being brilliant to astonishingly interesting. Bragging (or humblebragging, at least) was something I could see myself doing if I also thought I was some kind of spiritual superwoman.
So, it made perfect sense: The only way to be good enough was to let God make me good enough. And God made me good enough through Jesus’ covering of all of my wrongs. But then, how could I “do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT), I wondered?
So, it made perfect sense: The only way to be good enough was to let God make me good enough.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. —Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT
Do you ever feel like I felt, like you long to be close to God and do good but don’t know how that can happen? What will you do with the God who pursues you, covers your wrongs, heals your heart, and invites you to new life now and forever? How do we begin this new life he offers? By trusting Jesus. If you’re ready to believe in God’s good purpose for you and your story, you can begin by telling him so in prayer. Here’s a simple and memorable way to pray:
CONFESS: We confess that we have fallen short of living a perfectly loving and just life. We tell God that we cannot earn his forgiveness, cannot be good enough on our own, and are ready to stop trying. We accept the free gift of our new life and ask God to give us the Holy Spirit to lead our life. (Romans 10:9-13)
BELIEVE: We believe that God loves us so much that he gave what he loved most—his Son, Jesus—to pay the life sentence for our sin (John 3:16). We agree that he saves us not because of good things we have done but because of his kindness. Because of God’s kindness and love, we have confidence that God makes us new from the inside out in this life and gives us everlasting life with him after we die. (Titus 3:4-7)
ACCEPT: We accept that God forgave us and brought us close when we confessed and believed. We accept that we can’t take credit for it. We accept that we are God’s masterpiece, now living with new life thanks to Jesus. And we embrace the good things God has planned for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
When we believe in and trust Jesus, he pens new stories for us. God changed the title of my story from “She Is Striving and Stuck” to “She Is Accepted and Free.” Do you want to begin this new story, this new life? You might pray something like this:
Father, I confess I fall short of being perfectly loving and just, as you are. I believe you sent your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and pay entirely for all my sin. I call on Jesus as Lord and accept your gift of life now, with your Spirit living in me, and life with you forever in your Kingdom. I pray this in your Son’s name, Jesus. Amen (an affirmation that means “So be it!”).
So, sister, I don’t want you to do what I did—read the Bible alone in the dark. Don’t wait to feel close to the Author of the story and the Creator of you. You can know God now by asking him to forgive you and give you new life. If you’ve done so, then you are a child of God (1 John 3:1) and you have become a new person.
Here’s your story and my story, too: We are enough because Jesus makes us enough.
reflect
Do you feel like something is holding you back from doing the good things you want to do? How could knowing Jesus help you with that?
imagine
Picture the book that tells the story of your life. What is the title of that book? Do you wish the story had a different title? Consider sharing with someone the different titles of your story. Maybe ask God what title he would give your story and listen for his answer.
Naomi cramer overton, MBA, DIS
lives to realize beauty-filled visions that lift us to flourishing with our families and beyond. Naomi has been the CEO of Stonecroft and MOPS International, as well as a director with Compassion International and World Vision.