When I Feel I'm Not Good Enough, God Gives Me Worth

I simply adore Max Lucado’s book You Are Special. In this delightful story the hand-crafted, wooden people called Weemicks run around giving each other dots and stars based on how good, talented, and beautiful – or not – they think they are. Poor Punchinello doesn’t quite measure up so he earns a lot of gray dots.

I so identify with Punchinello. Some days it feels like every rejection, every failure, every lost job, every bad judgement is stuck on me like a Weemick’s gray dot. No matter how many gold stars I may have collected along the way, it’s those gray dots that stick out, reminding everyone that I’m just not good enough.

What is Good Enough?

Where do these feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness come from? It’s a tale as old as time itself, popping up in all our lives in one form or another.

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

There is no hard and fast rule about what makes a person good enough. Success and worth are measured differently based on culture, background, family values, place in history, and so much more! At the end of the day it all comes down to whose opinion you trust the most.

“The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom.” Genesis 3:6a

Back in the beginning, the world was more than good enough. It was perfect. Imagine Eve in that beautiful garden paradise, considering the forbidden fruit. The serpent’s words ring in her ears. You can be like God! Did she convince herself that God would be proud of her for taking initiative. Did she think eating the fruit and gaining wisdom would make her a more worthy partner for Adam? An equal to God, rather than a dependent?

Unfortunately, Eve needed to remember that dependency and trust are exactly what God wants from us. We are not worthy because of anything we bring to the table. We are worthy because He brought us to the feast.

Chosen, Loved, and Worthy

Punchinello learns that Eli, the one who made him, doesn’t care about the gray dots and yellow stars given by the other Weemicks. He loves Punchinello just the way he is.

When feelings of inadequacy ring in my ears, I can replace them with the truth about God’s unconditional love, remembering that there is nothing I can say or do to make him love me more or less. His love has nothing to do with our accomplishments or our failures. He loves us because we are His.

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.'” Isaiah 43:1

By spending time with his maker, the gray dots marking Punchinello lose their power. When we spend time with our Maker, we are reminded of how great his love for us is. Not because we are good enough, but because we are His.

I am not worthy because of anything I bring to the table. I ame worthy because He brought me to the feast. #FeelingsVersusTruthClick To Tweet