If someone was to say that, at any point in their life, they have never felt like they weren’t good enough for anyone or anything, I can almost promise you that they were lying. Whether it be comparing you to other people based on your academic performance level, athletic ability, etc., or making rude comments about your appearance, your level of intellect, or even your weight, there are some people in this world who can’t find anything better to do than to bring people down. I should know-I’ve had individuals of whom I was extremely close to, make rude and hurtful comments about “how I really need to lose my big, fat belly.” Now, I know that I am nowhere near being skinny and that I will probably never in my lifetime fit into a pair of size 2 pants. But, I’m OK with that. It took me a long time to get over what this person had said to me. It hurt; boy did it hurt. My confidence shrunk down immensely, and I felt like crawling into a hole and never coming out again. But God spoke to me, and said, “You are ENOUGH.”

As the childhood song goes, “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” This song, I think, is not only mean to speak to kids, but to struggling teenagers and adults as well. Basically, it is saying that Jesus loves everyone, regardless of how different one person might be from another. He doesn’t care if you didn’t get an A on our last math test. He doesn’t care if your brother got a full ride to college because he played a sport, whereas you had to pay a little bit of money. He doesn’t care that you weigh just a few extra pounds. None of those earthly things matter to God. What does matter to Him is how we treat people, how we act, and how we demonstrate His love to other people.

1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” As sad as it really is, when it comes to seeing others, people tend to only focus on what the outside looks like, not on what’s on the inside.If someone doesn’t fit into their idea of how a person should look, or act, or believe, we as humans tend to be prejudice and judge others, when in reality, we have no place at all to do so. At the end of the day, God is the ONLY one who has the ability to be the judge of anyone. James 4:12 says, “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” I don’t think that humans truly understand just how bad it is to judge people based on what is on the outside. They don’t understand that the tongue is considered to be like a double-edged sword and that the damage that can be done by it can destroy people in the worst way imaginable. Matthew 7:1-5 says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but does not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” In other words, before we even try to point out someone else’s flaws and mistakes, we need to first take a look at our own. If we wouldn’t want others to judge us based on what we’ve done, or what our personal flaws are, why do we feel the need to judge other people or broadcast everyone else’s flaws?

It is no secret that feeling like one isn’t good enough really takes a negative toll on a person’s social life, as well as their physical, mental, and/or emotional well-being. Many people fall, victim of this tragic circumstance that can easily be prevented; sometimes people fall so deep into this feeling that they can begin to consider doing crazy things to help them deal with what they’re going through, things that can be as terrible as suicide, and try to or actually do go through with them. It breaks my heart to know that so many people who were so desperate to feel loved and accepted, felt the need to kill themselves because they thought that no one ever cared about them to do anything to help. With that being said, I want to say now that if anyone feels that they aren’t good enough, or if they feel like they have fallen so deep into despair that they are unsure what to do, or if they are considering suicide because someone told them they weren’t good enough, or that they don’t matter, talk to me, and I will try my best to be a listening ear and help in any way. I found something on Pinterest the other day that had really spoken out to me, and even though I don’t know who had written it, I feel the need to share it: “The greatest miracle of all is that God looks at me, at you, in all our dirt and brokenness, and says, ‘I choose you. You are beautiful.’ Isn’t that a comforting thought? That you don’t have to be a perfect person to be loved, adored, and cherished by a beyond perfect God? I think it is. Allow me to leave you with this thought. You may not feel like you are good enough for the rest of the world, but that doesn’t matter. If you are a child of God, you don’t need the world’s approval. You are beautiful, you are loved, and most of all, you are enough.

• Matthew 10:29-21 says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
• Psalm 139:14 says, “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.”
• Jeremiah 31:3 says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you.”