There are days that you can’t help but feel like no matter what you do and how hard you try, the feeling of not being good enough drowns you. It can be in so many areas, in relationships, friendships, parenthood, career, or wherever you may in life. You don’t want to be a Debby downer but you see that everyone else seems to be doing so much better than you. So why is it that you can’t get your life together?
Before you swallow the self-pity, self-loathing pill, let’s get to the root of this vicious lie. And then we will overcome this lie by the truth of God.
Defining A Lie Of Not Being Good Enough
Satan’s purpose in this world is to hurt God and he does this by going after what God loves: You and me. The Bible says he prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour. It also says that he is a thief who looks to steal and kill and destroy.
First, he comes to steal your joy. He does this by feeding you lies that you are not good enough. Then he attacks your mind, your self-image, and self-worth. That you are not worthy, that you are a failure and you will never amount to anything. Satan will go as far as saying your life is a waste, things will never get better, you deserve this misery.
For me growing up, my biggest lie was that I was not smart enough and I will never be smart enough. Everybody else will go farther than me because they are smarter than me. This lie affected my self-image in areas of my work. I was always guessing my knowledge and looked to be validated. Even if I knew the answers to problems, I would double guess myself. If someone else came up with an answer, it had to be right. But If I did? It can’t be right, others have to double-check.
As much as I tried not to show it, my lack of confidence was visible. That made me feel even worse because then I start to think others will think I’m not smart. I would lie in bed cringing at myself for things I said or didn’t say. I wondered how everyone else seemed to have it all together.
Read: Peter 5:8, John 10:10, John 8:44
The funny thing about Satan’s lies and the reason that we buy into them is that he cleverly blends his lies with some dribble of truth. For me, it was because I was never at the top of the class so that must mean I’m just not smart. Culturally, we had to be at the top in class or our parents made us feel like we didn’t try hard enough. Family members will carelessly throw around words that we’re not very bright or we can’t be doctors so what’s the point? They may not realize that these words are weapons against us.
The root of where you feel you not being good enough comes from the father of lies. We can hear negative talks from people that barely know us to people that are closest to us. Satan will remind us of these words, make them seem even worse, and make us believe them. Those lies can stem from different events. For you, maybe you have failed a friend, a spouse, or failed in one of your endeavors. You could’ve made some bad decisions and ended up where you never thought you would be. Or maybe you are in a season where everything seems like there is very little hope of looking up.
But, a half-truth is still a lie isn’t it? The truth is, we may never be “good enough” in our own power, whatever good enough means. We may not be where we think we should be. But, what is the truth? What does the Bible say?
Overcoming With Truth
Read John 16:7, John 14:26, Psalm 103:12, Psalm 46:1
Jesus said before He left earth that He will send His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will be our Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby). That means we don’t have to just rely on our own strength. God is our refuge and strength, our ever-present help. We don’t have to be our own help, to be smart enough, good enough, or strong enough.
The Holy Spirit is our strengthener, counselor, and helper. If the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, how much more “good enough” can we be?
If we have sinned, yes we need to repent. Yes, we need to ask for forgiveness and sin no more. And Jesus removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. Whatever it is that you need to improve on, you can strive for it knowing that the Holy Spirit will be with you, to guide you, and to empower you along the way. If we have made mistakes, yes we can walk confidently knowing we have our ultimate backup to correct and fix our mistakes.
The lie that somehow you need to take defeat because you will never be good enough for something Satan would love to make you believe. The enemy will keep feeding us lies for us to be imprisoned in our own minds as long as we believe it. Sometimes, these lies have been fed to us since we were much younger like me. And as we grow up with different life experiences, Satan tailors the lies to our life to keep us in chains. I didn’t know better and I didn’t know what God had to say so I had believed in Satan’s lies for decades.
Read: John 8:31-32, Ephesians 6:14, John 3:16, Romans 8:37
That is why the Bible says that the truth sets us free. In fact, truth is a spiritual armor that we need to wear as a belt. We can go on our life believing lies about ourselves and walk in that chain. Instead, we can sprint to be men and women that God called us to be. He has given us the tools, His words which is our belt of truth.
Satan doesn’t get to define who we are. God gets to have that say and He says we are loved. We were loved enough to send His only Son to die for! God says we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. So satan certainly doesn’t get to define whether or not we are good enough. God is always with us to help us in times of trouble and comfort us in times of disappointments.
If you are serious about overcoming years or decades of thought patterns that hinder you, you need to take action. One of my favorite books that have helped me is by Pastor Craig Groeschel called Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. There are exercises throughout the book that you can work along with. When feelings of self-doubt, self-defeat, self-loathe, whatever negative self-image thoughts you are sitting in, let’s take these steps.
Actionable Steps To Overcome Feelings of Not Being Good Enough
- Remind yourself of the truth. Read the word of God and meditate on it.
- Go to the throne and ask God to renew your mind. Ask Him to comfort you and guide you.
- Praise and worship. God is more than worthy of our praise. We need to turn from ourselves and give praise to the One who has overcome for us.
- Renew your mind daily
Let us Pray
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Your Word that reminds us who we are in You. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that is able to help us, comfort us, and guide us. I admit that I allow myself to believe in so many lies that that enemy has told me, instead of believing in what You told me. I repent for forgetting Your love and the plans that you have for me. Renew my mind and build my faith so I can live in the freedom of Your truth in Jesus’ name. Amen.