Why Do We Feel Insecure?
Summarized from Section Three of Chip Ingram's Book
Sometimes we feel inadequate. Comparing ourselves to our neighbors can leave us feeling poor, unintelligent, fat, weak, old, or incapable. God has never called these things bad, but we do, and we work hard to cover them up. Behold the gigantic cosmetic industry.
We hide, puff ourselves up to make ourselves feel big, and put others down. Instead of accepting our mistakes, we blame others and God.
Look at Adam and Eve. Initially, they were happy in the Garden of Eden, open to and accepted by God, each other, and themselves. Then they ignored what God told them and became their own judges. They were afraid and they hid (Genesis 3:8, 10). They also blamed others. Adam blamed Eve and God for putting Eve there (Genesis 3:12). Eve blamed the serpent and indirectly God for putting the serpent there (Genesis 3:13).
Totally distracted, they missed their main mistake, which was disobeying God.
How to get out?
Assess ourselves soberly and accurately (Romans 12:3). Then, we will see we are broken. We have rebelled against God (Romans 3:23).
But through Christ, God has accepted us as His children (Ephesians 1:5,7-8), destined to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4). Nothing could separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). Not just loving us, God delights in us (Zephaniah3:17). With the almighty loving us so much, we shouldn’t be afraid and insecure (Romans8:31-32).
Further, in Christ, we belong to a body (Romans12:4-5). As different parts of the body, we have our different strengths and weaknesses, serving different functions (Romans12:6-8).
Our strengths are God’s gifts. There is no room for pride. Discover our strengths and use them diligently and effectively.
Our weaknesses help us be more interdependent and humble. There is no room to feel inferior.
Carefully identify our strengths and our weaknesses to find our role.
In conclusion, know that we are broken. But through Christ, we are accepted as God’s beloved children. So, be strong and courageous. Identify our strengths and weaknesses to work as a team to love God and others.
Summarized from Section Three of Chip Ingram’s book, True Spirituality: Becoming a Romans 12 Christian.
We hide, puff ourselves up to make ourselves feel big, and put others down. Instead of accepting our mistakes, we blame others and God.
Look at Adam and Eve. Initially, they were happy in the Garden of Eden, open to and accepted by God, each other, and themselves. Then they ignored what God told them and became their own judges. They were afraid and they hid (Genesis 3:8, 10). They also blamed others. Adam blamed Eve and God for putting Eve there (Genesis 3:12). Eve blamed the serpent and indirectly God for putting the serpent there (Genesis 3:13).
Totally distracted, they missed their main mistake, which was disobeying God.
How to get out?
Assess ourselves soberly and accurately (Romans 12:3). Then, we will see we are broken. We have rebelled against God (Romans 3:23).
But through Christ, God has accepted us as His children (Ephesians 1:5,7-8), destined to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4). Nothing could separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). Not just loving us, God delights in us (Zephaniah3:17). With the almighty loving us so much, we shouldn’t be afraid and insecure (Romans8:31-32).
Further, in Christ, we belong to a body (Romans12:4-5). As different parts of the body, we have our different strengths and weaknesses, serving different functions (Romans12:6-8).
Our strengths are God’s gifts. There is no room for pride. Discover our strengths and use them diligently and effectively.
Our weaknesses help us be more interdependent and humble. There is no room to feel inferior.
Carefully identify our strengths and our weaknesses to find our role.
In conclusion, know that we are broken. But through Christ, we are accepted as God’s beloved children. So, be strong and courageous. Identify our strengths and weaknesses to work as a team to love God and others.
Summarized from Section Three of Chip Ingram’s book, True Spirituality: Becoming a Romans 12 Christian.