He is enough!
Every Thursday evening, Justin and I participate in what we like to call Book Club. We get together with two other couples and have awesome discussion over a book we are all reading. It's been a bit of a balancing act with graduate school and everything else we have going on in a typical week...but it has been SO good for us and now it's almost a non-negotiable for me. Case in point, I got all my assignments for the week done yesterday on my lunch break!
Right now, we're reading "The Meaning of Marriage" by Timothy Keller, and it is absolutely rocking my world so far! I think in the last chapter I underlined pretty much something from every page 😎 One part of the chapter from last night talked about the gospel, specifically how it is supposed to humble us and bring us up. I thought, Yep, that's good! That's good stuff. And then I got to this, and it's a very loose paraphrase...
If you're living in the truth of the gospel. really living in the truth of the gospel, then you don't mind so much when you don't always receive comfort or compliment.
Ouch.
Hi, my name is Holly, and I am a recovering people-pleaser.
I love when folks tell me "thank you" at work, even if it's over something small. "I'm proud of you" from my husband or my parents absolutely pumps me up. If I do something wrong or even think I've disappointed someone, game over for me: I. Shut. Down. If I don't get the "atta girl" I want or, better yet, the one I think I deserve, it stings.
Sound familiar? Sound like you? Whew, thank goodness I'm not alone!
All kidding aside, I think we as humans all have an innate craving to be loved and accepted by our peers and those around us. Humans are social creatures, and honestly, a basis of even general friendship is acceptance. "Oh hi, I've just met you, but we may have something in common and you seem pretty cool and well...here's me as I am." And then boom, friendship! In dating and marriage, it's pretty similar and often starts out as friendship, but then it evolves into a deeper and more intimate level of communication and sharing our lives.
So anyway, I read that statement in the chapter and it got me thinking about how much stake I sometimes place in acceptance and praise from those around me. Even though I have accepted Jesus as my savior, and even though I am doing my best to live my life according to His will and purpose, sometimes I just...forget...where my ultimate worth lies, and whose opinions and acceptance matters most. It's His!
I also struggle with not feeling good enough. I'm happy to say that I think I am finally making some positive strides away from that line of thinking, but some days I still slip up. Like I said, I...forget...who I am, who I really am, and with Him, with Jesus, He is enough.
His word is enough. His truth is enough. His gospel is enough, and His gospel says that yes, I am fallible. I am broken. I am a sinner. I am messed up and I will mess up. Because of that I was destined to an eternity of suffering, forever separated from the Creator of the universe. But, Jesus came to this earth as a human, defied sin and lived a perfect life, and suffered and died on the cross to pay the price for my fallibility, my brokenness, my sin, my mess ups. He did that 2,000 years ago and He does that today, and every. single. day. For me. Because He loves me.
The more I let that Gospel message transform me, the more like Him I will become. It's hard, it's a journey. I am praying. I am doing my best to remember that He is enough.
Right now, we're reading "The Meaning of Marriage" by Timothy Keller, and it is absolutely rocking my world so far! I think in the last chapter I underlined pretty much something from every page 😎 One part of the chapter from last night talked about the gospel, specifically how it is supposed to humble us and bring us up. I thought, Yep, that's good! That's good stuff. And then I got to this, and it's a very loose paraphrase...
If you're living in the truth of the gospel. really living in the truth of the gospel, then you don't mind so much when you don't always receive comfort or compliment.
Ouch.
Hi, my name is Holly, and I am a recovering people-pleaser.
I love when folks tell me "thank you" at work, even if it's over something small. "I'm proud of you" from my husband or my parents absolutely pumps me up. If I do something wrong or even think I've disappointed someone, game over for me: I. Shut. Down. If I don't get the "atta girl" I want or, better yet, the one I think I deserve, it stings.
Sound familiar? Sound like you? Whew, thank goodness I'm not alone!
All kidding aside, I think we as humans all have an innate craving to be loved and accepted by our peers and those around us. Humans are social creatures, and honestly, a basis of even general friendship is acceptance. "Oh hi, I've just met you, but we may have something in common and you seem pretty cool and well...here's me as I am." And then boom, friendship! In dating and marriage, it's pretty similar and often starts out as friendship, but then it evolves into a deeper and more intimate level of communication and sharing our lives.
So anyway, I read that statement in the chapter and it got me thinking about how much stake I sometimes place in acceptance and praise from those around me. Even though I have accepted Jesus as my savior, and even though I am doing my best to live my life according to His will and purpose, sometimes I just...forget...where my ultimate worth lies, and whose opinions and acceptance matters most. It's His!
I also struggle with not feeling good enough. I'm happy to say that I think I am finally making some positive strides away from that line of thinking, but some days I still slip up. Like I said, I...forget...who I am, who I really am, and with Him, with Jesus, He is enough.
His word is enough. His truth is enough. His gospel is enough, and His gospel says that yes, I am fallible. I am broken. I am a sinner. I am messed up and I will mess up. Because of that I was destined to an eternity of suffering, forever separated from the Creator of the universe. But, Jesus came to this earth as a human, defied sin and lived a perfect life, and suffered and died on the cross to pay the price for my fallibility, my brokenness, my sin, my mess ups. He did that 2,000 years ago and He does that today, and every. single. day. For me. Because He loves me.
The more I let that Gospel message transform me, the more like Him I will become. It's hard, it's a journey. I am praying. I am doing my best to remember that He is enough.
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