Recently a girlfriend and I were talking and she asked me if insecurity is a sin?" I immediately spouted out my answer, YES, and told her insecurity is not from the Lord. I reminded her that the Lord created us perfectly in His image and scripture tells us the hairs on our head are numbered (Matthew 10:30) and He knit us in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13).
The definition many of us have of beauty come from the world, not from scripture. Scripture tells us that a woman who fears the lord is to be praised (Psalm 31:30), that woman should adorn themselves with modesty and self-control (1 Timothy 2:9), beauty is having a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:3-6). I encouraged her to equip herself with scripture that will help her get rid of those thoughts of insecurity that Satan so proudly places in her head so often.
As I thought about how much she struggles with this I was reminded that many of us have things we are holding onto that we haven't been able to give over to God. Pride, selfishness, people pleasing, jealousy, envy, insecurity... The list goes on. I hope as you read this blog, you will find comfort in knowing that God is greater than any struggle you are going through and He has the ability to help give you the strength to overcome your struggles.
About a year and a half ago, I made the decision to stop drinking alcohol. I did so after meditating on a conversation I had recently had with my beautiful friend Julie. Julie was talking about how anything we choose to turn to, to comfort ourselves in times of distress instead of turning to the Lord is a sin. This really hit me hard. At the time, I was turning to other things in additional to alcohol to seek comfort but I was particularly convicted by the consumption of alcohol in my life. Looking back now, I realize I just wasn't ready to surrender the other things I was struggling with. I slowly started telling people "I don't drink anymore" and drinking several drinks then became 2 drinks, 2 drinks became 1 and soon I wasn't drinking at all and I didn't even miss it! A couple weeks ago, I was having dinner with my friend Kristin and I realized although I was no longer comforting myself by turning to alcohol, I still hadn't been able to let go of comforting myself with food and emotionally eating. While Kristin was sharing her past struggles with me and explaining how she overcame these similar challenges, she said to me, "I was standing in front of the cupboard, staring at what I wanted and I just began to quote scripture, guess what, Satan doesn't like that very much, and he leaves you alone!" DING! The light bulb went off. That's the thing I was missing, I wasn't turning to God when I was being tempted.
Going through equipped disciple taught me the importance of memorizing scripture and one of the verses we memorized was 1 Corinthians 10:13. Digging into the word I found 2 other scriptures I have recently memorized; Romans 12:1, Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship (Yes, as I type this it is from memory) and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. I recognize that this battle is far bigger than I and I will never be able to do it on my own. So as I drive to the drive through to get Chic Fil A and the yummy chocolate chip cookie on the dessert menu is calling my name, I will quote these scriptures. If I have a bad day at work and want to reach for greasy food to comfort me, I will ask the Lord to help me find strength and I will fight the battle I have been fighting for 5 years with new armor and weapons. I have faith that after giving control to God, He will help me over come this struggle that has been weighing me down.
So friends, I challenge you to identify the thing or things in your life that you are giving into that are not honoring the Lord and search God's word and equip yourselves with scripture to help you fight the battle. Titus 2: 11-12 tells us "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say NO to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." Don't be a fool as I was and think you can do it on your own, God is the only one who can pull you out of the mess you have created for yourself.
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