Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgments or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God. 2 Corinthians 3:4-5
The wonderful thing about grace is that it’s nothing about our ability and what we can do in ourselves, but everything about God and what He has done, and continues to do in and through us.
Throughout our lives we are measured, assessed, judged and evaluated. From our earliest days we are assessed by the midwife and the health visitor to see if we’re making our developmental milestones; by our teachers to ensure we’re at the right reading age; by our employers to see if we’re meeting our targets and by ourselves to see if we’re where we think we should be at any given point in our lives. It’s pretty relentless. It’s important to have goals and dreams but too often they stop being inspirational and become a stick that we beat ourselves with.
We see God that way too – always assessing us and finding us wanting.
God loves you more than you can every imagine and when we come to Him we no longer have to do anything other than accept that love for ourselves. Everything is turned on its head at that moment because then it’s His power, His ability and His sufficiency that equips and drives us. The more we let Him work through us the less performance driven we become and the more He is able to use us.
So if you woke up this morning with the thought that you’re not meeting the mark – stop trying!