The Ultimate Sellout
Scrolling online, I saw an eye-catching landscape photo with an "inspirational" quote on it:
"'Oh Beloved, you are more than enough' -God"
Besides asking where God says this exact phrase in Scripture, I couldn't help notice how "man-centered" this expression sounded. Imagine how many people scrolled passed that, read it, and believed it for all it's worth not knowing the Gospel. Who cares if they don't know the true, satisfying riches of a personal relationship with Christ? According to that post, God says they're more than enough.
Unfortunately, I have actually had conversations with people who live with this mentality. Who takes these "feel good" sayings and bask in them like someone who is content in a kiddie pool when there's an entire ocean in front of them.
It is dangerously easy for our sinful nature to demand the spotlight of God's attention rather than placing him at the core of our affection. Whether we believe the Bible is a love story written to us, Jesus died on the cross because he "felt lonely in heaven and wanted us there", or that the purpose of our existence is to love everyone and to enjoy the world He has given us. This phrase, among others so widely posted on social media, discredits Jesus and is a perversion of The Gospel.
We are not enough, and that's the point of The Gospel.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." -Ephesians 2:8-9
If we live with the attitude that we are "enough", we are stripping away any deserved praise and glory Jesus is worthy of because of the sacrifice he made. He knew we would never be enough, and the cross is evidence of that. Weaving any selfish explanation of The Gospel within our hearts is a recipe for idolatry. Exchanging God's glory for our own glory will result in our own despair and loneliness, and we will unknowingly be placing our hope in an ultimate sell out.
I thank The Lord that He is enough! While knowing the extent of our sinful and spiritually dead state, having absolutely no hope to reconcile ourselves to Christ, He died for us showing that He would go through any means to bring sinners to himself. Not for us and because we're enough, but for His glory. Mercifully enabling us to enjoy making much of Him forever.
Through Jesus' righteousness alone we are made enough. By the admission that we are spiritually dead apart from him. By praising Him for the undeserving grace and mercy offered the rest of our lives and to continually live as a vessel for His Truth. Only then can God look at us and say "Oh beloved, you are enough".
