Enough is Enough
My mom used to say this to me when she was frustrated by my attempts to do or get something. It was how she told me to stop without actually saying the words, "stop it." There have been times in my walk with God where He has said the same thing to me. "Enough is enough! Jesus has already taken care of this."
For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
Ephesians 2:8-9 Amplified
There is NOTHING we can do to earn the love and blessings that God has so generously given to us through Jesus Christ. We do not deserve anything that He has given us and yet so many of us constantly worry about whether or not we are "doing enough" for God. Let me help you with this, you are not.
You are not doing enough for God. You can never do enough for God. Jesus is the ONLY One who can and has done enough.
God does not measure our lives like we do counting how long or how much we do something in order to prove we are good enough to be called children of God. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of book out there that give us formulas that if followed will increase the blessings of God in our lives. I'm sorry but God is really not impressed with what we do as much as we think He is. Yes, He likes to see us do a good job but His greatest desire is our heart.
When Peter asked Jesus "How many times am I to forgive my brother?" (Mat. 18:21-22), he was searching for a finite number. He wanted something that could be measured out and possibly used to compare himself to others. But the reply he got "seventy times seven" was not meant for us to use to set limits on what we do. Jesus was really telling him that how many times was not as important as just doing it as many times as it takes.
For many years I prided myself on the fact that I read a certain number of chapters in my Bible a day and I prayed for a specific amount of time every day and I served in a leadership position in my church and I...blah blah blah. The list goes on ad nauseum. But sadly during all that time, God was not impressed.
Learning to live in the freedom of Christ means learning to not count how many times we do something or even how long we do it. The more we conform to the idea that we have to quantify our goodness by counting and measuring our actions the more we stay focused on ourselves and what we can do instead of Jesus and what He has done for us.
Enough is enough. Stop trying to earn anything from God (or man) and simply accept and enjoy the love God has for you and the life He has given you.
Be content with who you are in Christ.
Heidirn
For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
Ephesians 2:8-9 Amplified
There is NOTHING we can do to earn the love and blessings that God has so generously given to us through Jesus Christ. We do not deserve anything that He has given us and yet so many of us constantly worry about whether or not we are "doing enough" for God. Let me help you with this, you are not.
You are not doing enough for God. You can never do enough for God. Jesus is the ONLY One who can and has done enough.
God does not measure our lives like we do counting how long or how much we do something in order to prove we are good enough to be called children of God. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of book out there that give us formulas that if followed will increase the blessings of God in our lives. I'm sorry but God is really not impressed with what we do as much as we think He is. Yes, He likes to see us do a good job but His greatest desire is our heart.
When Peter asked Jesus "How many times am I to forgive my brother?" (Mat. 18:21-22), he was searching for a finite number. He wanted something that could be measured out and possibly used to compare himself to others. But the reply he got "seventy times seven" was not meant for us to use to set limits on what we do. Jesus was really telling him that how many times was not as important as just doing it as many times as it takes.
For many years I prided myself on the fact that I read a certain number of chapters in my Bible a day and I prayed for a specific amount of time every day and I served in a leadership position in my church and I...blah blah blah. The list goes on ad nauseum. But sadly during all that time, God was not impressed.
Learning to live in the freedom of Christ means learning to not count how many times we do something or even how long we do it. The more we conform to the idea that we have to quantify our goodness by counting and measuring our actions the more we stay focused on ourselves and what we can do instead of Jesus and what He has done for us.
Enough is enough. Stop trying to earn anything from God (or man) and simply accept and enjoy the love God has for you and the life He has given you.
Be content with who you are in Christ.
Heidirn
Comments
Post a Comment