BE vs DO

Once upon a time, God told the first human beings (Adam and Eve) to "be fruitful and multiple". God didn't give them a schedule, require 80 million tasks be completed, or have them punch a time-clock. He didn't ask them to measure up to anyone else, or demand that they prove anything. He just told them to be who He made them to be....to let happen what naturally was going to happen when you have two healthy, naked, and attractive people that love each other (i.e. "fruitful multiplying").

And though they then disobeyed God's one rule, and the consequences of sin came into the world, God did not amend His original instruction. But the very next story has Cain and Abel striving against each other. I think Abel was murdered because of jealousy and hatred. Why did this happen?

Sin makes us flawed. Separated from God, we are no longer good enough and are thus forever lacking. Humans are cursed with having to fill that emptiness - to live with the deep knowledge that we "are not good enough". This makes us insecure. This compels us to measure up to other people's standards, to show our "worth", to strive to accomplish "important things", to be "productive" and thus prove our value to other people. We try to fill our emptiness, our "not-being-good-enough"  with pleasure and by attempting to earn love and acceptance. This results in stress, and endless straining and striving to prove ourselves - to correct the nagging flaw that is our imperfection. Some people call this drive ambition. But really, ambition is like pride - an outward compensation for what is missing in our soul.

The Good News is that Jesus makes us enough. With Jesus, we do not need to prove anything to anybody. We do not need to earn acceptance, or demonstrate our value. We are enough. We are his treasure, just the way we are..

But we forget that easily. Sin screams that we still aren't enough. We believe the lie that God wants us to prove our worth, that we must do great things for Him, and blah blah blah. Instead, God wants us to be who he made us to be. He doesn't want us to do things for Him. He just wants to be with Him. That's where we find freedom and peace. You are enough when you have Jesus. Be at peace.