Moms, there is a subtle and well-meaning message in today’s media that you are enough for your kids. That your perseverance in the uphill fight of motherhood makes you strong and that, though you only see weakness, it is enough for your family and kids. That when the pressures and opinions of the world press in, they hold no power over your worth – because you are enough.

But I’m here to say that mommy, you are NOT enough.

You are the best mother to your child, because you are the one that God appointed for them to have. But you will never be enough for them. And you will never have the resources to be enough for yourself.

The pressures and the voices are real:

There’s pressure to re-gain your image.

Pressure to build relationships for your child.

Pressure to maintain your own relationships.

Opinions on your choice to stay home or work.

Opinions on the medical care of your child.

Opinions on how you manage your child’s needs.

Pressure to maintain your home.

Opinions on your schooling choice.

Opinions on how you feed your child.

And the list goes on…

The message in the media is right that these pressures are not what validate your worth or indicate the success of your parenting. The message is right to encourage you to put aside the critique and give yourself grace in your invaluable role. It is right to lead you away from comparing yourself to others.

But it is wrong if it convinces you that who you are is enough. Your worth and your greatest influence to your child’s well-being is not found within yourself. The decisions you make might not always be right, even if your intentions are. YOU will never be enough.

Christ is the only one who will ever be enough.

It’s He who can empower you with the strength to persevere in your role. It is He who can give you wisdom for the many decisions to be made, and it is He who will give grace when you make the wrong one or fail. It is He who validates your worth and He who gives the only strength that will ever truly refresh.

Christ is the only one who can fulfill your child as well. He appointed you their mother so He will guide and give grace for the task, but it is only He who can fill and change your child’s heart. It is He who can uphold them through the wearying trials of life, and it is He who gives them breath for each step along the way. Only Christ is enough to mold your child’s heart. It is He who can break through and soften it to the truth of the gospel. It is He who can truly satisfy their soul.

When you rest your heart in the power of Christ true refreshment and self-worth can be found. When you see the reality of your worthlessness outside of Christ and embrace the forgiveness and grace that He offered when He gave His life for your sins, that is where you find enough. And only when you believe that He died for your sins, and only through His grace, are you able to pour out investment toward true fulfillment for your child.

Yes, Christ has given you an amazingly important role in your child’s life and He can use you in powerful ways – but only Christ is enough to fulfill, direct, and resurrect both your child’s and your own weary soul.

It is only when you see yourself as not enough that you will see the need for someone more.

 

-written by a fellow weary mother, daily reminded that I am not enough without Christ.

 

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