Always feeling never Good Enough?

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. John 1:11

I'm pretty sure this rejection carried with me through my adult life because I still struggle with the feelings of not being good enough. I still look to find my worth in the people who let me into their “groups” and even through those who still reject me. Often I strive to be accepted by certain people thinking that maybe if they accept me or even acknowledge me then I will finally be good enough. As an adult I have experienced rejection among church, family, and friends. I have also rejected and hurt others in my life. Even though I believe that we need to have boundaries in all relationships, I also believe that even through those boundaries we can still accept and love the other person.

So many years of believing that what I did made me good enough has held me back from the life God had planned for me. Oh how disappointed I was to find out that even if I tried my best - someone or something - would say “You’re not good enough.”. So often when we are rejected by life, or other people, we harbor this lie that we are not good enough. Perfection doesn't mean good enough. When we seek acceptance from others we often put on the actions we must take and the hoops we must jump through in order to please them. But perfection doesn't mean you are good enough. The pursuit of perfection means you are insecure in who you are and what you are capable of doing.

SO often we have been rejected, that we reject our self. We hold back the gifts God has given us. We compare our self to other people. We are ashamed of our mistakes. Guilt says you're not good enough. When we reject our self we reject God because God is alive in our heart through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Are we weak? Yes. Are we perfect? No. Do we have all the answers? No. Do we need to have all the answers to live a life accepted? No. Do we need to BE “a god” in order to encourage others in their walk with Christ? No. God has already accepted us and He will equip us. But in order for us to live a life accepted we must first realize the truth and we must begin to LIVE it out. That truth is we are accepted by God always, and rejection is a lie.

The truth is this: God made you in His image, and that makes you capable. Not by what you can do, not by what you have learned, but by His grace. Grace to shower His love on us, grace for creating us in His image and with a free will, and grace to bless us with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

HB