My family loves the movie The Greatest Showman, the highly embellished account of P.T. Barnum’s rise to success. In one moving scene, Barnum’s prospective father-in-law tells him he will never be good enough for his daughter, saying, “She’ll grow tired of the poor life you are able to give her.” This played to a deep insecurity Barnum carried—one we all share. No matter how successful he became, he was never satisfied. Even as his wife pleaded with him to realize he was already worthy, he struggled to believe he was truly good enough.
Most of us live our lives plagued by the question, ‘Am I enough?’ We constantly try to prove our worth to others and ourselves. We ask: Am I strong enough? Hardworking enough? Smart enough? This leadership dilemma on good enough vs. very best is a struggle many of us face as we wrestle with our identity and performance.
Modern advertising reinforces the idea that we fall short, suggesting we aren’t good enough unless we buy a specific brand or lifestyle. From being a ‘good enough’ parent to a ‘good enough’ spouse, the world constantly tells us we are lacking. While we can work toward silencing self-condemnation, the pressure to measure up remains a daily battle.
And even if you are enough right now, you live with the fear that one day you won’t be. Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of his generation—and, for those with eyes to see, of every generation. But one day he’ll be forgotten. Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian alive, but that distinction won’t last forever.
This is the trouble with trying to become “enough.” Either you can’t make yourself great (so you feel like a failure), or you do make yourself great (and you are terrified of losing it).
We need an identity that isn’t founded on questions of “enough.” We need an identity that isn’t a matter of what we’ve done—because that’s never going to feel like enough.
Identity, simply defined, is your self-definition of who you are, your value, and the role you are here to play. I’ve always found Pastor Clayton King’s definition of identity helpful: Identity is what the most important person in your life thinks about you.
Who is that for you?
The American College Health Association has noted the rising anxiety in this generation of students entering college, and they say it’s because the primary message children receive is that they had better be the best at everything or they won’t make it. It’s made exponentially worse by social media because everyone is creating a fake “best” version of themselves to compete with everyone else’s fake version. They’re afraid to reveal their inadequacies and insecurities.
The apostle Peter tells us we can stop this frantic race to the top: “But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession’” (1 Peter 2:9). Because Jesus is our foundation, we have a new identity. God chose us to be in his family.
What’s more, we are “a royal priesthood.” In the chosen nation of Israel, there was a specially chosen line of royalty, the line of Judah, and a separate, specially chosen line of priesthood, the line of Levi. In Jesus, we are both of these. We are the chosen of the chosen of the chosen.
And, we are a people for God’s possession. The King of Kings has set his affection on us.
What more do you need to be “enough”? You are not enough because you are more remarkable than someone else or because you made it to the top. You are enough because the most important person in your life—Jesus Christ—loves you, stands behind you, and has put you into service.
You will never win enough to feel like you are enough. Thank God, you don’t need to.
Jesus won for you. He values you and promises he has a plan to use you for good. That is enough.
This article originally appeared on JDGreear.com and is reposted here by permission.