“Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” opens the story about Jesus meeting the woman at the well. (John 4:1)

The words jumped off the page at me.  Keeping score??  How silly that is, I thought. There was no competition between Jesus and John to see who could baptize more people.  Yet, we ourselves tend to make life into a competition, often with ourselves and often with others.  We are either winning or losing in so many areas of our lives. We check off all the items on our to-do list and we’ve had a good day.  We fall short of getting it done and feel as if we’ve failed.  Competition, always, competition, and mostly against ourselves.

Do we fear we are “not enough?”  Do we fear God doesn’t approve of us if we don’t meet the expectations we set for ourselves – perfection in some cases?  There is no competition in God’s unconditional love and forgiveness.  It is there for each of us.  God asks us to be who we are, a beloved child of God.  That’s all.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It’s enough for God, so surely it is enough for us.

“You are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I love you.” (Isaiah 43:4).