Welcome to Part 1 of our series, The Enoughness of God.

Many people struggle with the feeling that they aren't enough. Not smart enough, successful enough, spiritual enough, or worthy enough. In this episode, Joy and Kim explore where those feelings come from and why they were never meant to define your identity.

Together, they unpack the biblical truth that your worth is not determined by comparison, performance, or the opinions of others. Your identity is established in Christ, and what God says about you is the only measure that truly matters.

If you've ever questioned your value or felt like you could never measure up, this conversation will remind you that God has already settled the question of your worth.

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat or replace medical, psychological or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanor, and are based on personal experience and Biblical insight, not clinical or professional training.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down, breathe and reconnect with the presence of God.

I'm your host, Kim, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Whether you're just discovering what it means to pause with God or you've been walking this path for a while, I'm glad you're here.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You are right on time.

Let's live the Selah Life together.

Welcome back my friends, to Living the Selah Life.

Today we are beginning a brand new three part series and I have been looking forward to this one.

We are calling it the Enoughness of God.

Over the next three episodes we are going to look at three places where people feel a deep sense of lack.

What happens when you do not feel like enough, what happens when you do not have enough, and what happens when life itself does not give you enough.

In every one of those places we are going to discover that God's sufficiency is the answer.

It's not always a quick fix, but it's a real, living, sustaining truth that holds you up when everything in you feels like it's falling short.

Today, in episode 38, we are going to start on a more personal one.

We are talking about what happens when you feel like you yourself personally are not enough.

And I want to say from the very beginning that if you have ever looked at life and thought I am not measuring up, you are in the right place today.

This one is for you.

We will call this week's main teaching the false standard of Enough.

Here is the truth that I want to build this entire episode around.

You do not feel like enough because you are measuring yourself against the wrong standard.

Your enoughness is not about you.

It is about who God says you are and what Christ has already done.

We spend so much of our lives trying to be smarter, prettier, more talented, more spiritual, more successful or more put together, believing that if we just reach a certain level, we will finally be valuable.

But that is performance driven identity and it will always leave you feeling empty.

We live in a world that is constantly measuring.

Everything has a rating or a ranking, a score.

And somewhere along the way we start applying that same measuring system to ourselves.

We look at other people's lives, their careers, their families, their spiritual walks and we feel like we are lagging behind.

We see someone who seems to have everything just so and we start to wonder what is wrong with us.

Social media has made this so much worse.

We are scrolling through carefully, carefully created content and comparing them to our own behind the scenes reality.

James, chapter 1, verses 17 tells us that every good gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights.

Your value is not something that you are able to generate on your own.

It is not something that you earn or achieve.

It is a gift given to you by your Creator.

The moment we forget that, we start trying to create our own worth.

And that is an exhausting way to live.

Where did this lie start?

This feeling of not being enough is not a modern day problem.

It goes all the way back to the very beginning in the Garden of Eden.

The Enemy came to Eve with a very specific lie.

He said, you will be like God.

Now on the surface that sounds like a promise of more, but underneath it was a suggestion that she was not already enough as she was created.

The lie was that she needed something she did not have in order to be complete.

She was already made in God's image, already walking in relationship with him, already living in the world he called good.

And the enemy convinced her that it was not enough.

That same lie is still echoed today.

You are not smart enough.

You are not spiritual enough.

You are not successful enough.

You are not enough of a mother or a father, a friend, a leader.

The enemy has been using this strategy for a long time and it works because it targets the very core of who you are.

But Genesis chapter 1, verses 27 tells us that God created human beings in his own image.

In the image of God, he created them.

That means that your value is not something that you have to earn.

It was built into you at the moment of your creation.

You bear the image of God.

This is the foundation of your worth.

Culture has its own definition of enough, and it shifts with every generation and every trend.

God's definition has never changed.

He looked at what he made and he called it good.

He called you good.

What does God have to say about your enoughness?

You are enough because of whose you are, not because of what you do.

Your identity is not built around how you perform it is built on your position in Christ, and that position is secure.

It does not change based on how your week went or how many times you fell short, or whether you feel like you are growing fast enough spiritually.

Colossians, chapter three, verses three says that your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Hidden.

Hidden.

That word means protected, secured, kept safe.

Your true identity is not exposed to the judgment of the world.

It is wrapped up in Christ, and because it is hidden in him, it cannot be taken from you.

God delights in you, not just in how you behave, not in your accomplishments, not in how well you are doing at being a Christian.

He delights in you.

Zephaniah, chapter 3, verses 17 says, he rejoices over you with singing.

And that is not the language of a disappointed parent watching a child fail.

That is the language of a father who genuinely is joyfully pleased with his child.

And first John, chapter three, verses one says, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God.

The word behold is an invitation to stop and to look at something great.

The love of God towards you is so extraordinary that it deserves your full attention when you're Not Enough Shows Up Even though we say that we know these things, that we are enough and we we're seated in heavenly places and we're holding on to our identity in Christ verbally.

The feeling of not being enough has a way of showing up in very specific places.

It shows up in our careers, in our callings as imposter syndrome.

We feel like frauds, like we somehow got into a position we do not deserve and it is only a matter of time before someone figures that out.

We can minimize our gifts and our contributions and we live in a low level anxiety that we are about to be found out.

It can show up in our appearance.

We look in the mirror and catalog what is wrong.

We compare our bodies to images that have been filtered and edited and we feel like we are aging way too fast or not the right size or not attractive enough.

And we carry a shame about the body that God gave us.

It can show up in our parenting.

Mom guilt and dad guilt are very real.

We look at our children and may wonder if we are doing enough, if we are present enough, if we are patient enough, if we are going to mess them up.

We compare our parenting to other parents and feel like we're falling short.

It always shows up in our relationships.

We feel like we are too much for some people and not enough for others.

We wonder if people really like us or just tolerate us.

We can hold back parts of ourselves because we are afraid that if people really knew us, they would not want to stay and they can show up.

In our spiritual lives, we feel like we are never praying enough, never reading our Bibles enough, never serving enough or giving enough.

We look at other believers who seem so on fire and wonder why our faith feels so ordinary.

Second Corinthians, chapter three, verses five says that our competence comes from God, not from ourselves, not from our track records, not from how well we are putting on.

It comes from God.

That means you draw it from him, the grace that makes you enough.

When Christ died on the cross and rose again, he did not make you a slightly better version of yourself.

He made you a new creation.

His righteousness was credited to your account.

And that means when God looks at you, he sees the righteousness of God, not your failures, not your inadequacies.

He sees his son.

Colossians, chapter 2, verses 10 says that you have been given, given fullness in Christ.

Fullness.

That means there is no lack in your spiritual standing before God.

You are complete in Him.

You are not a work in progress in terms of your worth.

Now, we all are growing, being sanctified, working out our salvation, but we're talking about worth here.

You are not a work in progress in terms of your worth.

You are already accepted, loved and enough in Christ.

And this does not mean that we stop growing.

We absolutely keep growing, but we grow from a place of security, not from a place of trying to earn our place.

And that is what I see a lot of people doing, because it's.

It's actually taught across many pulpits.

They're working to earn a place that they already occupy, and it sends them in circles for many, many years.

There's a big difference between growing because you are loved and growing because you are trying to be worthy of love.

Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 10 says that we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The word translated as handiwork is the Greek word poyoma, which is where we get the word poem.

You are God's poem.

Love that you are his masterpiece.

He did not create you and then step back and wonder if, if you were good enough, he created you with intention, with purpose and delight.

And Romans, chapter 8, verses 1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

No condemnation.

That means the verdict has already been rendered and it is not guilty.

The the courtroom is closed.

Case settled.

You do not have to keep defending yourself or proving yourself because the one whose opinion matters most has already declared you righteous through Jesus Christ.

Here is something else I want to address because I think it is at the root of why so many of us struggle with this enoughness thing.

We often try to extend grace to others before we have truly received it for ourselves.

We tell other people that they are enough while believing that we are the exception.

And we celebrate other people's worth while privately holding ourselves to a different standard.

Before you can walk in the freedom of knowing that you are enough in Christ, you have to receive this for yourself first, and not just intellectually, not just as a theological statement that you agree with.

You have to let it become something you believe about your own life, your own story, and your own person.

And this receiving happens in the presence of God.

It happens when we let His Word speak to the specific places where we feel inadequate.

It happens when we choose day over day to believe what he says about us over what our feelings or what someone else or our culture or our past experience have to say about us.

When we receive, I mean truly receive, that we are enough in Christ, we stop competing with other people because we are no longer trying to prove something.

You begin to live from a place of security rather than a place of trying harder.

It does not depend on how your week went.

Remember that your enoughness in God is grounded in the finished work of Christ and it is secure.

We will move on to this week's pause prompts.

And remember, pause prompts are just a chance to take inventory of where we are so that we can know where we're going.

They are never meant to be condemning, but just to know where we're headed.

Let's go.

Pause prompt number one.

Where do you most feel not enough in your life right now, if anywhere?

What specific areas brings up the most feeling of inadequacy?

How has comparison stolen your joy recently?

And who or what are you measuring yourself against?

And is that a fair or honest comparison?

What would change in your daily life if you believe that God delights in you exactly as you are right now?

How would you carry yourself differently?

How would you treat yourself?

Think about the last time you felt genuinely enough.

What was different in that moment?

Remember, these questions are never meant to produce shame.

They are meant to produce awareness.

When we can see where the lie is operating, we can replace it with truth.

We will move on to this week's Scripture Spotlight.

For our Scripture Spotlight today we turn to Psalms 139, 13, and 14 in the New King James Version for you formed my inward parts.

You covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.

I chose this passage because it speaks directly to the root of our struggle with not feeling like enough.

It takes us back and reminds us of how intentionally we were created.

He said, for you formed my inward parts.

God did not mass produce you.

He formed you.

The word used here implies careful, deliberate craftsmanship.

He designed your personality, your gifts, your quirks, and the very core of who you are.

When you look at yourself and see inadequacy, you are looking at the intentional design of the Creator.

You covered me in my mother's womb.

Some translations say, knit me together.

And this is the language of an artist working closely with their creation.

God was intimately involved in putting you together.

You are not an afterthought or an accident.

You are the result of his careful attention.

I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

And this is the turning point.

David looks at how God made him and his response is praise.

To be fearfully made means to be made with reverence and awe.

To be wonderfully made means to be distinct, set apart and remarkable.

Your worth is established by the quality of the God who made you.

Remember that marvelous are your works.

When David says this, he is talking about himself.

He is acknowledging that he is one of God's marvelous works.

And this is not necessarily being arrogant.

This is agreement with God.

When you agree that you are fearfully and wonderfully made, you are simply agreeing with what God has already declared to be true and that my soul knows very well.

And this is the goal.

It is one thing to know this in your head.

It is another thing entirely for your soul to know it very well.

When your soul knows that you are a marvelous work of God, the opinions of everything else loses its power.

This is who you are.

This is how you were made.

We will move on to this week's Selah moment and prayer.

This is our opportunity to personally receive God's truth about our identity and release any need or desire or pressure to perform.

Begin by sitting comfortably and taking several deep breaths.

With each breath, release the burden of trying to be enough on your your own.

With each inhale, invite the Holy Spirit to fill you and secure your identity in Christ.

There is nothing to earn right in this moment.

You are already welcome here.

Think about the areas where you feel you have to to level up to be loved or valued Consider the fact that God delights in you in a personal way, a present way, a joyful way, and allow that to settle in your heart.

Say, father, help me to receive your delight.

Help me to see myself through your eyes of love and grace.

Bring to mind the specific places where you feel inadequate.

Speak God's truth over those areas.

Say I am enough because I am hidden in Christ.

My competence comes from God alone.

I am his handiwork created with purpose and intention.

Let us pray.

Father, thank you for your incredible truth that our worth is not based on our performance.

Thank you that we do not have to exhaust ourselves trying to be enough, that you have already declared us to be enough through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, help us to recognize the lies that have taken root in our hearts and give us a discernment to see when we are falling into the comparison trap.

Remind us that every good gift comes from you and that our value is inherent because we are made in your image.

When we feel inadequate in our careers or our parenting, our relationships, our spiritual lives, our growth, bring this truth to our minds.

Remind us that that our competence comes from you and help us to rest in the fullness we have been given in Christ.

Lord, we ask that you would move our anxious thoughts with your love, that you would quiet them.

Let us hear the song of joy that you sing over us.

Change our hearts so that we operate from a place of secure identity rather than a place of trying to earn your love and your acceptance.

We ask that you would give our listeners the courage to write down the areas where they feel they are falling short and to replace those feelings with your word.

Help them to practice saying I am in enough in Christ whenever inadequacy tries to take hold.

Lord, help us remember that we become what we behold, that what we choose to constantly look at on a daily basis is who we become.

Let that image be the one that you created us to be.

It is in Jesus name that we pray.

Amen.

Let's lean into our Selah moment.

Well my friends, that is it for today.

Thank you for listening to Living the Selah Life.

If this moment stirred something in your spirit, please share it with someone who needs to be reminded to pause.

You can connect with us on Facebook, a Facebook group, not a Facebook page or YouTube livingthese lalife or Instagram livingthese lalife.

You can also email any Selah moment that you would like to hear to me at livingthese laliferoton Me.

That's living the Selah life at Proton Me.

May you go from this place, rested not just in body, but in spirit, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you and the rhema that guide you.

For man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And may you keep rising into the life he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence.

Until next time.

Stay rested, stay rooted, and keep rising in Jesus name.

And it is so Selah.