There are voices that say you're not enough. That you can't keep up. That you'll always fall short.

Do you hear those voices?

Sometimes, I believe them. I listen to the voices when they criticize me and condemn me and compare me. I let them define me by what I do or how much I produce or by things outside of my control.

Then, I remember the truth. The truth that speaks through all of the lies. And the truth says that, really, I'm not enough. I can't keep up. I'll always fall short.

If I'm listening to the right Voice, that is.

It's the Voice that cancels out every other voice. The Voice that speaks gently to you and me, but firmly. To tell us that, apart from Jesus, we are nothing. We're not enough. We can't keep up. We'll always fall short.

But, Covered by Jesus, Knowing Jesus, Saved by Jesus, DEFINED by Jesus, we are enough. We can keep up. We no longer fall short.

Through Jesus, we are enough to be fiercely loved by the God of the Universe. Enough to be called His own. Enough to bring Him glory. Enough to please His heart.

In Jesus, we can have confidence that we measure up. Because we're not being measured by the world's standard. Instead, we're being measured by grace and truth. And we get to measure up to who He designed us to be. To what He calls us to do. To our identity as forgiven and free and forever His own.

Because of Jesus, we no longer fall short. We get to be eternally close and personally connected to the One who made the stars and calls them all by name. We get to be saved from the consequences of our true falling short. And we get to know that the memory of who we once were has been erased and our falling is simply into His strong and tender and so-merciful arms.

That's what I want to know. To remember. To measure myself by. And it's what I want teach my kids as they head out into a world that will try to measure them by a faulty standard.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2).
 

Can we listen to the Voice of love and truth and grace and mercy together? Can we be intentional about passing the sound of that Voice along to the little ones who are in our care?

• What would it take for you to focus on that Voice? To heart it above all of the others and to live like you believe it?
• What would it look like for you to amplify that Voice for others to hear?

{Game Plan Cards are part of the Game Plan parenting series package and are available in the shop at ToChooseJoy.com}