I am Enough - Kalani Kandegama
I am enough. Three simple words with such weight in meaning. Three simple words that are not said as often as they should.
No matter who you are or where you come from, we all have insecurities - things that make us believe we are less than. These standards can be set by our parents, our family, our friends, or even by ourselves. Whether it’s our appearance, academic abilities, gifts and talents, or particular milestones in life. No matter what it is, all of us have felt at some point in life that we have fallen short of being ‘enough’.
Feeling this way is normal, so we shouldn’t feel bad or guilty, it happens to everyone. But feeling like this is not what God intended for us. He hasn’t called us to feel inadequate - He has called us to be the daughters of the Most High.
Let’s look at it this way; if we were to create something, something we put our heart and soul into, we would be proud of what we made, because so much love and thought went into creating it. Because of this, it would hurt if someone were to talk badly about our creation. This is how it is with God. When we talk negatively about ourselves, it upsets God because He put so much love and thought into creating and designing you to be exactly the way you are.
We are enough, and that’s a fact. Whether we feel as if we are enough is dependent on our own perseverance to understand our worth that is set by God.
The following are three ways I've found that help to remind me that I am enough.
Scripture
Whenever we need to prove a point, we always look for the facts and figures to back up the idea, usually on the internet or in books. God gave us the Bible, His Word, as evidence of who He created us to be and how He thinks of us.
Your worth is written in dozens of books by numerous writers, over hundreds of years ago. No matter what we do, say or think, His word never changes. Our worth is set in stone:
You are created in God’s image. Yes, you read that right - Genesis 1:27
You are designed. Don’t believe me? Read Psalm 139:13
You are a designed masterpiece. Yes, you! Ephesians 2:10
You are set apart and anointed - Jeremiah 1:5
You are fearfully and wonderfully made - Psalm 139:14
You are precious and honoured - Isaiah 43:4
You are loved, oh you are so loved! Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:1, Galatians 2:20, Jeremiah 31
And there is nothing you need to do to earn your worth. He loved you before you had a heartbeat. He valued you before you ever knew Him. To Him, we are enough. We always have been, and we always will be.
Our Surroundings
What we surround ourselves with can heavily influence our own beliefs about our self-worth. To put this into perspective, there is a type of flower called Hydrangeas that is dependent on the soil for the colour of its flowers. If the soil is really acidic, the flowers will be blue. But if the soil is not acidic, the flowers will be pink. Almost like this, our beliefs about our self-worth or our ‘flower colour’ can be dependent on our surroundings, or our ‘soil’.
We need to be intentional about what we surround ourselves with even in the little details of our everyday lives. If the people we surround ourselves with talk negatively about themselves and the people around them, our own mindsets will begin to see things negatively. If we allow ourselves to be surrounded by secular music that convey messages that degrade women and project negative images about womanhood, we begin to adopt a false belief that we are meant to be objectified. If we interact with social media posts that present the ‘ideal female body image’, we begin to develop insecurities about our appearance because the filters that we now look through have been tainted. If we surround ourselves with ‘bad soil’, our ‘flowers’ will be produced with the idea that we are not enough.
The same goes for the positive aspects of our surroundings. If we surround ourselves with those who uplift others and speak life, we will subconsciously default to speaking positively about ourselves and the people around us. If we surround ourselves with worship music, we will begin to understand that we have been made new and whole in His presence. If we embed ourselves in the Word and engage with Christian social media, we will be able to grow our faith and believe that He is not only Lord over all, but our Creator and Father who has a purpose for us to be exactly the way we are. If we surround ourselves with ‘good soil’, we will blossom with ‘flowers’ that truly understand that we are enough.
Self-love
This one is by far the hardest. But it is the most important. This is all about the mental battle we endure to overcome the belief that we fall short. Honestly, sometimes you need to “fake it until you make it”. When you wake up in the morning with your messy hair, tell yourself that you are beautiful. When you feel like life is caving in and you can’t handle it, tell yourself you are strong and able. Sometimes we say things because we believe them, but sometimes we need to say things until we believe them. Slowly, but surely, you will see that you are in fact beautiful, strong and more than enough not because our own abilities but because of who God created us to be.
We can have sticky notes on our mirrors reminding us that we are independent, intelligent and beautiful daughters of the God of the universe. We can change the wallpapers on our phone or computer to remind us of the truth found in scripture. Most importantly, we need to identify moments where we speak negatively about ourselves, bite our tongue and learn to take those thoughts captive. We need to learn to speak to ourselves as if we were speaking to a loved one - because you should love yourself.
I am enough. Three simple words we should constantly say to ourselves. Three simple words that are so very true because the creator of the universe says that you are too!
Written by Kalani Kandegama
Kalani is a part of our Kingdomcity Youth team at Kingdomcity in Perth.