Browsing Tag

confidence

How to Dump Insecurity and Find Rock-Solid Confidence

 

It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
2 Samuel 22:33

My friend Julie told me recently that she grew up as a very insecure child, not the adventurous type at all. She had some hard things happen to her as a kid—like verbal abuse and the death of a parent.

Yet here she was dangling from a harness over the edge of a cliff, rappelling in the early hours of a warm July day in Colorado.

Halfway down the mountain, she paused. Her big brown eyes scanned the scenic beauty around her—a cloudless blue sky and morning sunshine glistening on Mount Princeton. She pondered the journey she’d be on for the past few years that led her to this moment.

“Who is this person I’ve become?” she asked herself.

Confident. Courageous. Strong.

Indeed, a newfound confidence began surface in Julie’s life when she discovered God’s truths in Romans 8. The Message Bible reads this way,

Those who think they can do it on their own
end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle
but never get around to exercising it in real life.
Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—
living and breathing God! (Romans 8:5, 6)

Distorted images
Lack of confidence and its opposite, pride, comprise both ends of the spectrum.

Is there a balance somewhere in between for a healthy self-image and a confident spirit? Consider this excerpt from my book, When Love Ends about a true sense of self-esteem:

Perhaps you’ve seen a woman who thinks she is “all that.” Her smugness and conceit is contrasted with the person who has low self-esteem: she thinks she is “none of that.”

She focuses more on her mistakes instead of what she does right. She is often sad or fearful, and her insecurity prevents her from speaking up, taking chances, or moving forward.

A woman with a healthy self-esteem respects herself. She feels secure and worthwhile because of what God says about her. She has confidence in relationships and in life and generally more joy. She knows she has significance; she matters.

With her sense of worth and value intact, she sits up straight and walks tall. Head up, this confident woman is friendly, gentle and kind. She makes eye contact when she speaks, and she doesn’t constantly apologize for everything she says or does.

Living your true identity

We all have reasons for feeling insecure. But we don’t have to stay there; we have choices.

Instead of living in insecurity, we can choose to live “in security.” That means we are secure in our identity because we know Whose we are.

As you uncover the truth about what God says about you, that confirms who you really are. What does God say about your true identity? Here are just a few things YOU ARE:

Accepted by God – Romans 15:7
Loved dearly – Colossians 3:12
Chosen – Ephesians 1:11
Blessed – Matthew 5:2-12
Friend – John 15:15
Bride of Christ – Revelation 19:7
Child of God – John 1:12
His workmanship – Ephesians 2:10
Citizen of heaven – Philippians 3:20
Light of the world – Matthew 5:14
His co-worker – 2 Corinthians 6:1
Victorious – 1 Corinthians 15:57

Self-confidence or God confidence?
Instead of relying on what others say or finding confidence in yourself, you can build “God-confidence” by remembering that He can do what you cannot.

In other words, focus on what He can do through you, not your own limited resources.

When we feel ill-equipped or inadequate, that’s the time to totally rely on God and what He does through us. You can be secure when you know the One in whom we can put our confidence.

“It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure” (2 Samuel 22:33).

Immerse yourself in God’s truth and love, and you will find insecurity fading and confidence building.

When we see with the eyes of Christ, we see who we really are.

3 Awesome Ways to Build Confidence and a Strong Self Esteem

No one likes to feel stupid. Or small. Or less than.

We’ve all had days when we just want to crawl under our desk—or under the covers—and hide.

Perhaps you can relate.

Have you ever bumped into a handsome guy at a coffee house—the one you’ve been eyeing for weeks—on your worst hair day? Or, lost a big game because you dropped the ball? Or endured years of harsh or unkind words from a family member or a bully in your life?

Ouch.

Embarrassing moments

Words really can hurt, and we’ve all had embarrassing situations in life. At times like that, your self-esteem can seem to plummet faster than the gigantic Niagara Falls (which, I’ve learned, fall at about 202,000 cubic feet per second).

Sadly, when your self-esteem nosedives, you lose the sense of your original design—of who you truly are. Somehow, you forget all the amazing things God, the Creator created you to be.

Like a slab of wood in the rain, your self-esteem gets warped when you feel like you are not

pretty enough,

smart enough,

strong enough,

wealthy enough—or simply not enough at all.

I hear you.

I’ve had seasons in life when I’ve wondered what planet my self-esteem wandered off to because it seemed so far away. I’ve endured harsh and unwarranted criticism from others. I’ve known times of unexpected unemployment and I’ve felt the sting of rejection in dating relationships.

Thankfully, I’ve learned some vital lessons in recovering my faltering self-esteem.

You have choices

I discovered that I have choices; I can either stay stuck in my disappointment or I can choose to believe that how I view myself really can change for the better.

Let me give you some good news:

When you begin to see yourself as God sees you,
and learn the truth about who you really are,
then you will begin to live a life that is
more confident, fruitful and joyful.

How do you do that?

It begins by knowing and believing God’s truth, and what He has to say about you. In doing so, you realign your thoughts about your true worth and value. The truth about who you really are comes from the source of truth and love Himself: God Almighty.

Maybe it’s time to come back, or discover for the first time, who you are in the eyes of our loving and compassionate God—your true identity.

Reset Your Thought Life

Here are a few things to think about as you reset your thought life:

1. What are you saying to yourself? Self talk matters. Is the running monologue in your head mostly negative or positive?

Remember, there’s “what happened” and “how you deal with what happened.” You may have had a horrible childhood. Others may have treated you poorly. Or, you may have made unwise choices. But how you respond to hard things in life makes all the difference. You can find victory as you renew your mind (Romans 12:2) and get rid of negative, false and damaging thoughts.

2. Is it true? Don’t mistakenly believe that other people or popular culture hold the measuring rod for your value as a person. Challenge what you hear and hold it up to the light of Scripture. Grab your Bible and discover all of the life-affirming things God has to say.

The truth is, you:

  • Have value because God made you. You were God’s idea!
  • Are worthy simply because you ARE.
  • You were created for good purposes.
  • God loves you more than you know.

No matter where you come from or what you’ve done—or what has been done to you—Christ offers startling grace and complete forgiveness to all. That kind of love is mind-blowing, and it’s available to you.

We live in a culture that values the outside of a person when God values the inner qualities that are a true treasure of infinite and eternal value.

First Samuel 16:7 says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’”(1 Samuel 16:7, NIV).

3. How can things be different? As you start to notice what you’re saying to yourself, and look to God’s truth, not the distorted messages you’ve heard in the past (e.g., “You don’t deserve to be happy” or “You’ll never amount to anything” and the like), your thought life will begin to be transformed in positive ways. And when your thoughts change, your actions change. And life gets better.

Indeed, it is true. And worth repeating: When you begin to see yourself as God sees you, and learn the truth about who you really are, then you will begin to live a life that is more confident, fruitful and joyful.

Helpful Resources by Jackie M. Johnson

When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton Is Empty

(Help and Hope for Getting Over a Relationship Breakup or Loss)

Praying with Power When Life Gets Tough

Power Prayers for Women