15: The Remedy for Insecurity

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

MORRIS DIRKS, AUTHOR OF Forming the Leader’s Soul, talks about an issue that most of us struggle with.[1] He addresses the feeling of “not-good-enough-ness.” It’s the inner voice that constantly whispers to us, “You’re not good enough.” We take this on as our identity. We feel unworthy. We feel insecure.

Dirks suggests that our struggle is really with shame.

Guilt requires forgiveness, which comes to us freely through Christ’s work on the cross. But shame requires acceptance or closure. Because we don’t deal with our shame, we struggle with anxiety. We either withdraw from others or seek acceptance from others.

But Paul says, “Don’t be anxious about anything.” The Greek can be rendered: “Don’t be anxious even in one thing.”

So, my friends, what’s the answer? Read the rest of the text. It says: Give thanks. I think this means that we shouldn’t go into tomorrow and try to do what belongs to tomorrow. Instead, when I feel anxious, I give thanks for all I have today and focus on how God provided for me, protected me, and directed me yesterday and today. This is a principle given by God. It works. Try it. I know that my wife, Denise, keeps a gratitude journal. She finds that it develops a habit of thankfulness.

The voice that you hear saying, “You are not good enough,” comes directly from the enemy, not from God. You’re forgiven by God, loved by God, and accepted by God. It’s a lot to be thankful for!

Questions

  1. When have you felt “not-good-enough-ness”? How has this feeling affected your life, your relationship with God, and your relationship with others?
  2. What issues of shame have you faced? Confess these to God and accept His full forgiveness. Knowing you are forgiven, release yourself from the tight grip of anxiety by remembering that you are loved and accepted by God.
  3. How does cultivating a spirit of gratitude directly combat the insecurity of “not-good-enough-ness”?
  4. What specific steps can you take to develop a habit of thankfulness?