I talk to a lot of people who deal with insecurities and self-doubt. And if we’re being honest, we probably all deal with this at times in our lives. We have this way of comparing ourselves to others and feeling like we just don’t measure up. Or we realize the realities of our sin and feel like we will never be good enough.
Something I’ve learned over the years is that one of the effects of sin is insecurity. The more we sin, and the more aware we become of our sin, the more insecure we become. I believe this is because we fear that God and others will reject us because of our sin and failures.
So, I guess the question is: How do we work through this fear of rejection and insecurity?
I think it starts by realizing that God’s love for us is unconditional. In Romans 5:8 it says: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”You’ll notice that it didn’t say, “Once we get our stuff together, then He’ll show us His love.” No, it says that He showed us His love while we were still in our sin. God knows we’re sinners, He knows that we’re going to fall short: that’s why He died for us. He loves us that much. And because of His love and sacrifice, we are more than enough in His eyes.
Years ago, I talked about shame and the fact that shame comes from this feeling that says we aren’t good enough. But I believe the unconditional love that Jesus demonstrated for us on the cross was His way of saying we don’t have to be good enough—because He alone is good enough and He did the work for us.
And the second thing that I think will help us to overcome this fear of rejection and insecurity is not comparing ourselves to others. We are called to live the life that God has called US to live. We are all in different places on this journey of following Jesus and our lives should look different. We aren’t called to be a cheap imitation of someone else—we are called to be an authentic version of ourselves.
God loves us unconditionally and He’s calling us to live the lives that He created US to live. And when we live in this way, we realize we are more than enough in and through Him!
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