“[W]hom the Lord loves, he disciplines….Endure your trials as ‘discipline;’ God treats you as sons. For what ‘son’ is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain; yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed” (Heb: 12: 7, 11-13).

“I am enough” has become a mantra of the current age. We are often told by self-help gurus and even well-meaning therapists that we are fine just the way we are. We are to be true to ourselves; be authentic; and above all, we are not broken, but whole and perfect.

These declarations and such advice might feel good; they might make us feel better about ourselves or our states in life. But this is not what scripture teaches. God loves us, yes, in our sin and in our saintly ways. But He is also consistently calling us to more. He invites us to the fullest flourishing our nature can obtain. Despite what popular culture tells us, original sin has caused us all to be broken. We have the capacity for evil, to turn away from God, and then suffer in the separation we have caused and perpetuated.

God’s discipline, His calling us to right order with Him, might often result in “pain.” Ultimately, however, it is cause for our “joy” and gratitude. For in the discipline we are “trained” to be upright; we experience the ultimate freedom that is the “peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

As we are spiritually strengthened, as we walk “straight,” we are blessed with the knowledge that our “lameness” is only temporary if we choose to turn away from it and look to God for guidance and mercy.

No, we are not enough as we are. We are indeed sometimes “disjointed.” Ultimately, though, our faith invites us to trust in our Father and be “healed.”