I am enough as I am
Hello lovely IASMT Family
Do you ever struggle with ‘mum guilt’? That constant feeling of being not quite enough - falling short and failing your children? If you don’t know what I am talking about, just a little time scrolling on mum blogs on Instagram should bring the feelings rushing in! Pictures of tidy houses, perfect craft activities, and educational museum trips can leave one feeling less than and inadequate. Instagram aside, we know that we fall short day after day, whether in parenting, work, friendships or marriage. And if we don’t take these thoughts captive, they can become crippling tapes that are rehearsed through our minds day after day.
The good news is that, when we are ‘in Christ’ - given our lives to Jesus, received forgiveness and put our faith and trust in Him - we can confidently say ‘I am enough as I am’. Why? Because Jesus is enough and our new creation identity means that He took our imperfect record and switched it for His perfect, righteous record.
He has separated our sin as far as the East is from the West, He has covered all of our shortcomings and failures when He died on the cross. All we need to do is receive this gift of forgiveness as easily as children and put our trust in Him.
The devil is a legalist and also called the ‘accuser of the brethren’. He is very good at finding any chink in our armour and anything we have done wrong and hounding us about it. My only defence in this area isn’t to argue my way and say ‘ I am perfect, I am fine’. Because the reality is that I do fall short day after day. We all do. My only defence is to say ‘I am forgiven, I am righteous in Christ, I am holy, blameless, without reproach. I am washed whiter than snow, by the blood of Jesus.’
Like Paul, I can say ‘my only boast is in the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14), not in my own strength.’ So when it comes to mum guilt, I can confidently say ‘I am free from guilt, I am free from shame. I am enough as I am’. Not because I am the perfect mother, far from it. But because God is the perfect Father. He lives in and through me (Galatians 2:20) and in my weakness He is strong. Through trust and surrender, He makes up for my lack. In His grace, I am ENOUGH!
In whatever area you may be feeling accused and inadequate today, run into the arms of Jesus, receive forgiveness and then declare with me ‘I AM ENOUGH AS I AM’ - watch more here!
Love Thea xx