As I walked
along the beach one afternoon I was happily looking around at all the families,
friends and couples strewn along the beach. At first I was filled with joy for
all these people who were out there having fun with their families and friends,
but as I took a deeper, longer look at these people and myself I saw a
pointlessness to life. I saw people gathered together and on the outside they
seem perfectly content and happy, but I could see the occasional glace of a
woman to another women wishing her body looked the same way. I watched as
husbands looked at women other than their wives, parents looking at other
families and wishing their family would just get along that way, or I saw
discontentment in the lives of these people. And in my own life I know that the
comparison thief has taken control of my mind and robbed me of joy countless
times. We are all victims of comparison and discontentment with who we are.
Here recently,
my insecurities and weaknesses have made a prominent appearance in my thoughts.
When I allow my insecurities to creep in, I become unsatisfied with who I am and
that creates a stagnant heart. Another thing I tend to do is allow other people’s
opinions of me to define me. Regardless of the positivity of the opinion, I
still tend to allow others opinions of me to matter more and define me more
than the Lord. I often become lost in
wishing I was someone else or some way else and I forget to move. I don’t
accomplish nearly as much and I am not nearly as satisfied with life. I become
stagnant or stuck in a rut (or however you want to refer to it).
I know that
everyone has been a victim of this syndrome before and many are currently
experiencing self-doubt and facing some serious insecurities. The Lord has
reminded me of some amazing promises and truths about who he is and who I am in
him that have helped me in this battle so I’ll share them with you in hopes
that you feel encouraged.
Galatians 4:9 “But now that you have come to know
God, or rather be known by God, how
can you turn back again to the weak and
worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be
once more?
Our worth and
value is not derived from anything of this world. We are defined by the fact
that God so loved us that he sent his Son to die for us so that we can have a
relationship with him. Because of the cross of Christ we can know God but more
than that he knows us. He loves us so incredibly much and he doesn’t want us to
be weighed down by all the worldly things and worldly mind sets. He came so that
we could be set free from those and live life for him. We no longer have to be
defined by the world because our true identity rests in the fact that we are
known and loved by God. We are adopted as sons and daughters (Romans 8:15-17).
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Sometimes when I
am feeling insecure and not confident in who I am I feel like I can’t
accomplish anything. I feel like there is nothing I could do that would be of
any use. But because of this verse I can no longer say that. We are created
with purpose and we all have specific tasks every day that God has laid before
us to accomplish for his glory. We can be confident that our lives will paint a
beautiful picture because God says they will.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “Now there are varieties of
gifts, but the same Spirit; and
there are varieties of service, but the same
Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good.”
èGod has uniquely
designed you (Psalm 139:14-15) and he has uniquely gifted you in order that you
may serve him and do good for the kingdom of God. Something I’ve recently
struggled with is being confident in my passions, my gifts, my personality, and
myself in general. I’ve had a thoughts like this, “If I was just ______ I could
accomplish so much more for the Lord.” Or, “I am not enough of ______ so I
can’t do this or that. Only a certain kind of person can do that.” But here we
see that God has created each of us and gifted each of us according to his
perfect will so for us to say that the way he’s designed us isn’t good enough
is that say that God is imperfect. It’s to say that we know a better way which
clearly we do not. We should be confident in the unique way God designed us. It
is no mistake we have the personality we have, or the passions we have. Each
part of us has a purpose and was put in us intentionally by God.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live but
Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who lovedme and gave himself for me.”
This verse is so
awesome because it turns all responsibility off of us and puts it on God. When
we accepted Jesus to be our Savior, our lives were no longer about us. It is
now Christ who lives in us and the Holy Spirit that accomplishes things, not
us. We are just loved so much by God that he allows us to be a part of his plan
even though he doesn’t need us to accomplish anything. So we can rest easy
knowing that the life we are to live is not about us and how confident or
insecure we may be but it is about surrendering who we are at the feet of Jesus
so that he can use our lives for his glory. Our lives are in no way about us
and that is an extremely comforting truth.
There are so
many more verses that talk about this subject but obviously I cannot list them
here. I’ve probably actually written more than I was supposed to but thanks for
bearing with me. My final thoughts are this: If we all laid aside our
insecurities, and I mean really surrendered them to the Lord in a way where
they don’t plague us anymore, then I believe we (the body of Christ) have to
potential to change the world. If we all come to grips with the fact that life
is ultimately not about us and we allow the Holy Spirit to bring transformation
to our hearts and if we step confidently
into the gifts the Lord has given us then we
will change the world. There is no way the world could be the same. Let’s
not walk through life with a pointlessness but embrace the purpose the Lord has
given us. Let’s all be brave and say goodbye to our insecurities and pursue the
Lord will all our hearts. Let’s do this together.
