FEELING INSECURE?
…to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:6
I remember my first day of first grade. I did not know a soul, and I was filled with anxiety. I was all ready to learn, though. My mom gave me my dad’s old briefcase to hold my papers and school supplies. That’s right, I went to first grade with a briefcase. Can you say nerd alert? Luckily for me, I got past the briefcase with no abuse from my classmates. What took much longer to get past was my battle with insecurity.
Perhaps you can relate to feeling insecure. If we are honest, most of us deal with feelings of insecurity quite often. New surroundings can seem fearful and daunting. We often wonder if we are liked, wanted, and accepted. Sometimes, we struggle with the impostor syndrome. We have risen to a level of influence and success, but deep down we feel we don’t measure up. We fear that someone will see us for what we really are—a bundle of self-doubts, insecurities, and failures—and expose us as impostors. And when impostors get exposed, they get expelled from the group.
Needless to say, living with insecurity is not a fun and freeing experience. It is definitely not the way the Lord wants us to live.
GOD’S WORD TO THE INSECURE
Insecurity is rooted in self. We feel insecure because we know deep down that we are flawed and fragile. We often try to compensate for this insecurity by bragging on ourself to others, giving ourself a daily pep talk, or achieving some award or advanced degree or milestone. Alas, these worldly strategies to overcome insecurity are short-lived at best. The answer to the problem is only found in God. You will never find it in yourself.
God is a God of grace. His grace has been defined as His unmerited and undeserved love in action. It is by His grace that we are saved. It is by His grace that we are set free. It is by His grace that we are “accepted in the beloved.” And the beloved is Jesus. The moment we receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, the Father accepts us! Acceptance is not achieved through merit, it is freely given through grace.
This acceptance is beautifully pictured in 2 Samuel 9. King David extends jaw-dropping kindness to a man named Mephibosheth—a man who should have been treated as an enemy. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul. He was heir to Saul’s throne; but David had taken the throne and ended the dynasty of Saul’s house. Conventional wisdom told David to execute Mephibosheth, lest he try and start a revolt and bring the kingdom back to the house of Saul. But David had made a covenant with Jonathan years earlier, vowing to show lovingkindness to his descendants forever. Therefore, David showered Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, with undeserved grace and mercy. When Mephibosheth asked why David would be so kind to “a dead dog like me,” David’s tacit response was telling: I’m not accepting you because of you. I’m accepting you because of Jonathan.
Listen, the cure for insecurity is to remember that God does not accept us on the basis of who we are or how uprightly we have been living. He accepts us on the basis of Jesus. When we accept Jesus, He accepts us, completely and fully.
If you are a Christian, it’s time for you to live in the joy, peace, and security of your acceptance. Don’t look within to find security. It is not there. Look to Jesus. What the Father said to Him, He says to those who are in Him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Love,
Pastor Jeff Schreve,
From His Heart Ministries
Dr. Jeff Schreve believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life, God still loves you and has a wonderful plan just for you. From His Heart provides real truth, love and hope on over 700 radio stations each day, in 182 countries each week on TV, and is always available online. Pastor Jeff takes no income from this ministry. All donations go to furthering the broadcast outreach. As a listener/viewer supported ministry, we thank you for joining with us to help speak the truth in love to a lost and hurting world. Go to www.fromhisheart.org for more information.
SPECIAL OFFER
