Insecurity: A Weed in Our Garden
Lately, I have discovered that young people, more than ever, are being affected by insecurity. I believe the media has a huge affect on the way we, as human beings, perceive ourselves. We let the media tell us what we should look like, what we should buy, what music we should listen to, ect. We are influenced daily by what other people are doing on social media and how they are living their lives. We measure our self-worth by comparing ourselves to people. If we don’t look like the celebrity on the cover of the magazine, if we don’t sing like the singer on the talent show, if we don’t play like the musician on the youtube video, if we’re not as talented in a craft or sport as a professional, we can begin to let insecurity take over.
The destructive nature of Insecurity
Insecurity can cause people to pass up great opportunities because they don’t feel that they are capable of success. It can cause jealousy to grow in hearts, and in time, bitterness can take over if insecurity and jealousy are not dealt with. When a person becomes bitter, he can become easily offended at the most minute things that people say just because it rubs him the wrong way. It can rip relationships apart.
The weed of Insecurity
Insecurity is a trick of the enemy to cause separation in the body of Christ. Powerful things happen when the sons and daughters of the Most-High King gather in one accord through the Spirit of God. How can there be unity when there are walls built up in our hearts? A weed causes destruction to anything that it inhabits. It makes the plants around it susceptible to disease. Insecurity is like a weed soaking up all the life from the growth that God is trying to do in us and through us.
The following is a description of weeds from http://homeguides.sfgate.com/weeds-affect-plant-growth-40995.html
Weeds are generally plants that have absolutely no redeeming value as far as food, nutrition or medicine are concerned. They have accelerated growth patterns and often leave seeds to perpetuate their kind. Weeds are often poisonous if eaten, taste bad, have thorns or other physical features making them difficult to remove.
Weeds compete with flowers, grasses, vegetable and fruit plants for water, sunlight and nutrients leaving non-weed plants starving. This loss of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium leaves them weak and prone to insect and disease infestation. Because most weeds grow at such an astounding rate, they often absorb more of one nutrient than another, leaving an imbalance. This overwhelms other plants often causing abnormal color, flower and fruit growth.
Killing The Weed At The Root
How can we get this ugly weed of insecurity out of our lives? Well, four years ago God began dealing with me about my insecurity. He showed me that the root of my insecurity came from trusting in myself instead of Him. I put my security in the talents God had graciously given me and the experiences I had. I thought I surrendered everything to Him, but deep down, there were parts of my life that I thought I could take care of on my own. I knew inside that I couldn’t handle it, but I chose to try. When you trust in a foundation that is not secure, you will become insecure. When I started trusting whole-heartedly in the Lord, I began to gain a confidence like I never had before. I learned (and am still learning) that it’s not about me or what I can do, but it’s about God, what He has done, is doing, and will do in the future. He is trustworthy. He is a strong foundation. I have to continuously stand on this and daily let the Lord weed insecurity out of my heart.
When we, as the body of Christ, weed our gardens and start trusting in the Lord with everything, some powerful stuff will happen. It starts with the heart of each individual believer. Let’s get to weeding!
Stay Fearless,
Mariah