/// The first half of this is truth, the second half grace. ///
A revelation that has helped me walk in confidence has been to view insecurity from a different perspective.
I realized that insecurity is a self-centered idol. What do they think of me? They must be laughing at me. I’ll never be good enough. What if I don’t say the right thing? Nobody likes me anyways.
It puts you before God.
That makes it an idol.
The enemy wants you to focus on anything but God, and especially on ourselves. It’s interesting: from those cocky to those insecure, the focus is applied to the self. He is so often successful in taking our eyes off of Where they should be: from the Only One worth thinking about. Insecurity is self-centered. It revolves around you thinking about you all the time.
Selflessness is one of the key character traits in being Christ-like. Therefore, if you focus on your insecurities you are denying the privilege He died for you to have. He died to rid you of your old self; in Him a new being emerges. As he rose from the grave, so He also did in our hearts. He lives in us. In Him there are no insecurities. My constant prayer is John 3:30 [He must become greater, I must become less]. The more He fills me up, the more secure I am. The more He saturates my soul, the less of the old me there is. Invading all my weakness, He wraps me up in Grace; the worst in me succeeded by the Best of Him. For without Him I am weak, insecure, prideful, selfish, gluttonous, poor in spirit, and hopeless. But in Him I find strength, security, humility, selflessness, self-control, richness of Life, and hope. And a million things more. He teaches me to walk in His strength and His security, because in my own abilities I wouldn’t last two seconds. I’ve tried; we all have. But all I do is fail. And the enemy would so love to keep us focused on what we can’t do instead of what God can.
Let me slightly diverge for a second. He created the universe. He knows everything in it. He holds the key to every problem. He thinks more thoughts than there are grains of sand about every single one of us. He is the Alpha and Omega; the First and the Last. And He lives in us, if we accept His offer. If we really understood that, where would worry fit into the picture? Where would insecurity? Where would doubt; hopelessness; despair? (I speak to myself as well, because I am no perfect girl! Hah! Far from.) He can do all things. He has promised us, PROMISED us, life, and life abundantly [“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” -Jesus]
(I just re-realized something as I wrote this!) Insecurity is a trust issue. It’s a measure of just how much we really trust God. It’s when we cling to ourselves that we lose our security [If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it. -Matthew 10:39]. Letting go is the ultimate test of your trust. And trust is a control issue. To fully trust Him, you have to let go: of knowing what’s going to happen, of your life, of yourself, of your worries, of your control. (We really don’t have control in the first place, but fool ourselves into thinking we do.)
Ultimately insecurity is fear. Fear of losing your life. What we’ve got to realize is that the only way to gain your life is to lose it!
So the next time the possibility of a pity party comes into mind, think of it as a selfish (and I mean literally, self-ish: revolving around self) desire instead of having the “I have the right to sulk” attitude, because, quite frankly, that’s not the Bride of Christ spirit.
Die to yourself.
Okay, now onto some grace after all that truth! I know what I’ve written may be a bit hard to take for an insecure spirit, but there is excellent news ahead.
As I said before, Christ lives in us. What an incredibly beautiful thing. It is a blessing beyond measure. Consider this: in the Old Testament, His Spirit dwelled in temples (and sometimes appeared to certain men & women) and people had to go to Him. Sacrifices were offered as atonement for sins. Religion reigned. Then, Christ enters the picture. He lived 33 years, then died as the Ultimate Sacrifice for all humankind, everywhere and of every time. He introduced us to relationship with God instead of religion. He released us from the ritual of sacrifice, because He was the Sacrifice. But He rose again. That alone is mind-blowing. Defeating death? What?! [”Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.“-Jesus]. And what’s even more mind-blowing: when He rose, He rose in us. We no longer have to enter into His presence; His presence lives in us! We are the temple! [Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? -1 Corinthians 6:19]. We don’t have to do anything to obtain this amazing Love; in fact, we can’t. You can’t earn gifts. All we have to do is accept. I’m falling in Love again as I am writing this.
This all brings me to my point: 1 Corinthians 2:16 says we have the mind of Christ. Because He lives in us, we automatically have the mind of Christ. All we have to do is tap into it! To realize the unbelievable resource that is found simply on the inside of us! It doesn’t make us perfect, but it does give us the opportunity to choose to be Christ-like in every way. What is Christ-like? In a word, Love. What is Love? Love is Patient, Kind, does not boast, isn’t proud or rude, IS NOT SELF SEEKING, isn’t easily angered, holds no grudges, rejoices in truth, always Protects, Trusts, Hopes, and Perseveres [1 Corinthians 13:4-7]. Insecurity is self-seeking. Love is not. As He grows, me and my insecurity vanish. For He IS Love [1 John 4:16]. So if He is Love, and Love is not self-seeking, He is not self-seeking. He is all about others.
Honestly, prayer changes things. For security, talk to God about filling you with more of Him. That is the answer.
