How to Know if You are Good Enough
How good is good enough?
How perfectly do you have to obey God’s Commandments to spend eternity in heaven with Him?
That was the question presented to Jesus in Matthew 19:
“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Matthew 19:16
Jesus replied:
“Keep the commandments . . . You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 19:17b–19
Although Jesus knew no one is capable of keeping God’s commands perfectly, He used this as a teaching moment for the man asking the question, the followers that were there at the time, and all of us as well.
Did you know that based on The American Worldview Inventory 2020 survey, 54% of Americans believe they will go to heaven after they die and among Americans who describe themselves as Christians, 52% believe in “a works oriented means to God’s acceptance.”
So, how do you know if you are good enough?
You don’t!
It is impossible to obey God perfectly!
Because Jesus said to be good enough we must…
“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.No other commandment is greater than these.”
Mark 12:30–31
And we can’t. We don’t. We won’t. We are born with a sinful selfish human nature. Which is why Jesus’ disciples asked:
“Then who in the world can be saved?”
Matthew 19:25
And Jesus answered:
“Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Matthew 19:26
By God’s grace through faith in Jesus, the impossible becomes possible.
Through Jesus our selfish sinfulness can be forgiven and our desire to love can become a priority. No we won’t do it perfectly and that’s why we’re going to pray today to the One who makes the impossible possible.
Asking God to Make You Good Enough
Father, I’m so very sorry. I believed the lie that Your grace and favor are something I can earn. But even with all my efforts, I fail to love You with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength . . . I don’t love others the way You command. Like Paul, I don’t do the good things I want to do and I do the wrong things that I don’t. (Romans 7)
Please forgive me! I need You! I trust You! I believe You can make the impossible possible in my life through Jesus. You give me all I need through Your Spirit to surrender myself to You as an humble offering of love.
Lord Jesus, help me to be “good enough” by Your grace that I might live each day for Your glory and show those around me the One who has made the impossible possible. Amen.
Friend, are you discouraged? Disappointed in yourself? In someone else? Do you feel hopeless wondering if things will ever get better? Is the enemy taunting you with the word “impossible?”
Stop now! The God of possibilities loves you! He has never asked you to be “good enough.” He simply wants you to repent and tell Him you want to change, and surrender your impossible to Him.
Remember Jesus said:
Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
Rest in Him and invite Him to do what only He can do . . . in you.
On today’s note write…
With God everything is possible!
God bless you as you place your hope in His grace and mercy for LIFE!
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I always enjoy hearing from you! Please take a minute to say ‘hi” and share your thoughts in the comments below.
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I am enjoying the study of Matthew with you, and your writings are beautiful! So real and so powerful. Thank you for being a blessing to me.
With God, everything is possible. I will cling to that promise and know that Jesus will forgive me when I’m not good enough.
Blessings, Deb!
Remembering and repeating every day . . . His grace is sufficient. He is greater than our not good enough! Blessings and hugs!
Thanks so much for this good word, Deb. Too often, even after we’ve repented and trusted Jesus for forgiveness, we somehow end up back in the mentality that we need to work to please God. I’ve been there! Sharing this with some friends who might need to hear this too.
Thank you, Patti! The enemy certainly loves to tempt us to doubt God’s love and mercy. To fight his lies, I’m trying to remember to focus on my relationship with Jesus and remember He is the One who is all-sufficient for all our needs. Blessings!!
just came upon these pages today. beautiul words of encouragement. God always got a Word of Scripture for every problem in life whether great or small trials. thanks and Praise to God our saviour. God Bless you and thank you.
I’m so glad you visited, Yvonne. Thank you for letting me know that you were blessed and encouraged. I hope you’ll subscribe and join us as we encourage one another in our faith. God be with you and bless you!