How to be More Confident in Your Identity in Christ Part 2: For the One Who Doesn't Feel Good Enough

You know those introductions people do on social media? Where you share a picture of yourself and tell a few things about yourself as a way to introduce yourself to others?

I like reading other people’s introductions.

But when it comes to writing my own, well… I’m not very good at it.

With my selfie staring back at me, I feel awkward and insecure, not able to think of a single thing to say about myself that sounds good enough, wise enough, kind enough, fun enough, not-lame-and-boring enough to be worthy of sharing with others.

​How many of us feel we’re not enough of something? ​

​Whether we’re posting a pic on instagram, meeting new people, scrolling on social media, trying something new, looking in the mirror, spending a Friday night alone, or even reading our Bible or praying (because we just don’t do that enough), there’s this nagging thought that we’re falling short and missing the mark.

​We have an identity in Christ that names us as chosen, precious, treasured daughters of God. God says of us, “You are mine.”

Yet we can still feel insecure, believing we’re not good enough until we accomplish that task, achieve that success, gain that approval, earn that acceptance, obtain that possession, become more of this and less of that.

What do you believe makes you good enough?

Looking for Enough

​In Genesis 3, the enemy tempts Adam and Eve:

"Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5

​We learn in Genesis 1 that we are created in the image of God, to have relationship with God and to reflect Him in our relationships with others.

​In this conversation the enemy calls into question God’s character and the relationship He has with His children, casting doubt over the very foundation of Eve’s identity.

As Eve listened and looked at the fruit, she “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” (v. 6)

Eve ate the fruit, disobeying God and committing sin.

She was looking for her enough outside of relationship with God, to be enough in and of herself.

But as they sewed fig leaves to try and cover up their nakedness, as they hid from God in shame of their nakedness, she came to see just how not enough she really was.

We Are Not Enough

​The Biblical word for “good enough” is righteous.

According to Romans 3:10, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” And Romans 3:20 tells us no one will become righteous by their own efforts.

​On our own, we are not enough. We have sinned, and our sin makes us fallen.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.   Romans 3:23

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But The Fall wasn’t the end of Eve’s story, and it’s not the end of our’s either.

God came into the garden and called out to Adam and Eve. In response to their sin and shame, out of His holiness and love, He spoke a promise: He would send a Redeemer, one who would break the hold of sin, restore the relationship, and reconcile creation to Himself.

​That Redeemer is Jesus.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.   2 Corinthians 5:21

​
Jesus took care of our sin when He took our sin upon Himself and died the death we deserve. When we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He takes what makes us not good enough - our sin - and in exchange gives us His righteousness. He rescues us from a place of separation and shame and brings us into right-standing with God.

Through Jesus, sin is broken, the broken is mended, and relationship with God is restored.

​This is what makes us good enough.

Where Are Your Looking?

So if our sin has been exchanged for Jesus’ righteousness, why do we still wonder if we’re good enough? Why do we still have these insecurities about our worth and significance?

Here are few reasons that could be:

We misdiagnose the problem
Maybe we don’t realize that the real issue is sin, but think it’s the number on the scale, or the opinions of others, or our relationship status, or any other number of things that make us not good enough.

If we don’t understand the true cause of our brokenness, we’re not going to realize that this issue has been taken care of by Jesus’ death on the cross, and we’ll keep determining our worth based on other things.

But when we know it is sin that makes us unrighteous, we can also know it is Jesus who makes us righteous.

We still feel shame
One of the first things Eve felt as a result of her sin was shame. She was conscious-stricken by the realization that in trying to be her own god, she became separated from God.

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.   Genesis 3:7

Insecurities are shame at work. The whispering, nagging, spiraling voice that lists everything about us that needs to be covered up and hid away - because if anyone really knew, they would realize just how worthless we actually are.

We don’t have to live in shame, insecure and hiding, because Jesus has removed our sin. He doesn’t just cover it up, He completely does away with it and makes us complete and new.

We’re looking in the wrong places
Where are you looking for proof of your worth?

Eve looked for her enough in a piece of fruit.

I look to likes on social media, my relationship status, what other people *might* think of me, as measures of my good-enough-ness.

If we’re looking to anything besides Jesus, we will be left feeling empty and insecure, because only Jesus is enough, and only He can make us good enough.

​Another step in becoming confident in our identity in Christ is to recognize that our worth and significance - our enough-ness - comes from Christ alone. He has cleansed us from sin, removed our shame, and clothed us in righteousness. And He calls us confess our sin, declare our need for Him, and trust in Him as our enough.

​In the coming months, I’ll be writing more posts about being confident and secure in our identity in Christ - sign up for my email list so you don’t miss a post!

Photo by Natasha Kasim on Unsplash