“You Are Enough” and Other Lies the Gospel Refutes

“Just do it.” 

“If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” 

“Believe in yourself and the world will believe in you too.” 

“Embrace yourself.” 

“You are enough.”

Slogans like these rose to popularity during the self-esteem movement of the 1990s, and their influence has proven remarkably enduring. They echo the most prominent idol of our age: the self. According to this worldview, my ultimate reality rests on me—my emotions, my desires, and my opinion of myself. If it feels good, do it; if it feels true, believe it; if it feels real, it must exist. 

At the same time, our self-obsessed culture has witnessed a dramatic, hockey-stick-shaped rise in cases of anxiety. In the past twenty years, the percentage of undergraduates in the United States reporting anxiety or depression has climbed steadily. And while an even sharper spike occurred around 2020 (no surprise there), the upward trend began long before any global pandemic occurred.¹

So as our culture elevates the self as the highest good, we are seeing a steady—and significant—decline in confidence and drive. Could it be that we’re chasing the wrong solution? Maybe a steady diet rich in vitamin “self-esteem” doesn’t provide the solid foundation we need for true, biblical self-confidence. In fact, if we want to find the real solution, we must turn the world’s answer upside-down. 

Sufficiency from Without 

If anyone had reason for self-confidence, it was the apostle Paul. Just check out his impressive résumé and pedigree: 

• Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel (Phil. 3:5).
• Of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5).
• A Pharisee, trained in the Mosaic Law by the finest tutors (Phil. 3:5; Acts 22:3).
• A Jew so zealous that he was willing to persecute Christians (Phil. 3:6).
• An apostle of Jesus Christ—eyewitness to the resurrected Savior (Acts 9:1–6).
• An eyewitness of the glory of heaven (2 Cor. 12:1–4).
• Survivor of stoning (Acts 14:19–20).

The list could go on, but you get the idea: Paul was a brilliant man with a stellar résumé and picture-perfect pedigree. He had every reason in the world to trust in himself and to believe that he himself was enough. 

However, as he told the Philippians, he regarded this whole list as nothing more than a pile of rubbish. (Actually, he used an even stronger word but “rubbish” will suffice.) In light of knowing Christ, he counted it all as loss rather than gain (Phil. 3:7–10). He communicated the same truth to the Corinthians: 

Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:4–6) 

Paul boldly refutes one of the most ubiquitous lies of our age: “You are enough.” According to the great apostle, our sufficiency must come from an outside source. Those who are new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) are “enough”—not because of anything intrinsic to themselves, but because they belong to Christ. 

This is great news! My adequacy does NOT come from . . . 

• My appearance
• My intelligence 
• My education
• My job 
• My marital status
• My bank statement
• The beauty or size of my home
• The kind of car I drive
• The behavior of my kids
• The brand of clothes my kids wear
• My social media friends/followers
• The vacation I’m able to afford
• The size of my waist
• My successes or failures at school, work, or home
• My background
• Who my friends are 

Each of these false sources of sufficiency depends on me and something I can achieve or lose. True sufficiency, however, rests entirely on what Christ has already accomplished. My status before God is unshakeable: 

• “Holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4).
• Adopted as God’s child (Eph. 1:5).
• A trophy of His glorious grace (Eph. 1:6).
• Redeemed through the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7).
• Forgiven of all my sins (Eph. 1:7).
• An heir of an eternal inheritance (Eph. 1:11; 1 Pet. 1:3–4).
• Sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:14).
• Set free from slavery to fear (Rom. 8:15).
• Granted access to the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).
• Possessor of peace that the world can neither give nor comprehend (John 14:27; 16:33).

This is the sufficiency that we possess—one that can neither be corrupted nor destroyed. As a result, we can experience confidence that the world can only dream about. 

Confidence Within

Built upon the foundation of the gospel, my sufficiency in Christ can stand firm against the rising tide of anxiety in our culture. In light of this truth, I can embrace these glorious realities:

I am free to take risks to the glory of God. While it would be foolish and self-centered to take unnecessary or uncalculated risks, I can step out without fear. This might include taking the risk of starting your own business, leaving a well-paying job to pursue the ministry, increasing the amount of money you give to your local church, having an awkward-but-gospel-oriented conversation with an unsaved coworker, or saying “yes” when asked to lead a ministry. 

I am free to fail to the glory of God. By their very nature, risks don’t always succeed. Sometimes even the most thought-out, well-calculated risk can blow up in your face. Sometimes God allows failure to chasten us as His children and to conform us to the image of His Son. Yet failure can never diminish our sufficiency in Christ. To believe otherwise is to embrace a gospel of works. 

I’m free to admit my weakness to the glory of God. It can be so tempting to hide any vulnerabilities, deficiencies, or inadequacies from the watching world. But when my sufficiency rests not on my own natural strengths, accomplishments, or abilities but on the gospel of Christ, I can be confident even when I fall short. I can acknowledge my struggles without fear of becoming “less than.”

While the reality of my sufficiency in Christ was secured the moment the Savior cried out, “It is finished!” the practical outworking of that identity takes a lifetime to apply. Perhaps that’s why Paul encouraged the Corinthians to gaze continually at the unveiled, radiant glory of the gospel. As we do, we are “transformed by degree from glory to glory”—gradually taking on the character of Christ and moving “farther up and further in” in our understanding and application of the Good News.

My friend, take some time today to meditate on the gospel. Consider your sufficiency, secured at the cross of Christ, and rejoice in the blessed freedom of knowing you do not have to be “enough.”

 ¹You can find these statistics at https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/research/the-evidence. Or you can read Jonathan Haidt’s excellent book, The Anxious Generation.