Written by Lily Gilbert
Children of the one true King. That’s who we become the moment we accept Christ into our lives. We become heirs to the kingdom of heaven and children of the Heavenly Father, and that changes everything.
As humans we try so hard to be good enough for the world and live up to its standards. Take it from me: as a perfectionist and an avid people pleaser, I constantly find myself trying to make everyone happy and be good enough, and it is absolutely exhausting.
Personally I have found that this constant pursuit of worldly perfection has left me broken in more ways than I can count. Whether it be chasing a certain grade, a number on a scale, or even a relationship with a certain person, I see that so many of my insecurities are rooted in pleasing the world.
Recently, one of my best friends had to sit me down and have a serious conversation with me about my insecurities. She called me out on the effects my insecurities were having on me. Weighed down with doubt and feelings of worthlessness, I was constantly being negative and self-deprecating. This showed through my actions and brought down the people I loved in the process. My constant effort to be good enough was turning me into a person that I was not and did not want to become.
This was a hard conversation to have, but one that I desperately needed to hear. These insecurities were all rooted in lies—like the lie that I wasn’t enough or worth loving. But here’s the thing: these earthly insecurities and ways that I think I fall short have already been covered by the grace of God.
God isn’t judging us based on what we look like, how smart we are, or how many people we impress. He doesn’t have any unrealistic standards set for us that we have to achieve in order to be good enough. The Lord wants us exactly how we are because that’s who He created us to be. The Lord sees our earthly brokenness and calls us beautiful; He sees our sin and calls us redeemed and beloved.
When we choose to pursue Christ instead of the world, our identity becomes found in Jesus. It shifts from being rooted in who we are and what we can do to being rooted in who He is and what He can do. He is enough in the ways that we could never be on our own.
So, once we have found this new identity as children of Christ, what are we supposed to do with it? We are called to share the gifts that we have been given with everyone we meet and know. When we see a struggling friend, a person alone in the hallway, or even just a neighbour on the street, it is our calling to show them the life that Jesus has to offer them. To show them the overwhelming love of Christ that we receive as His children, allowing us to be enough exactly as we are. And His love has the power to change everything.
