“What would you say to a girl who feels like she’s not enough? I’m just not
very confident. How can I deal with this insecurity?”
You know what it’s like to feel insecure. For some of
you, it feels like that’s all you know. So, what did I say to her? What would I
say to you? Here’s my advice for insecure girls everywhere .
Dear Insecure Girl
Insecurity has always been a part
of our lives.
Grab your Bible and read the story of the first girl to
ever live in Genesis 1–3.
Check
out how the Enemy tempts her.
“But the serpent said to the
woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your
eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen.
3:5).
“You will be like God.”
Read between those lines. What he
was really saying is, “You are not enough. You need to be more, Eve. You must
find a way to measure up." The baik worked. Eve was desperate to quiet her insecurity and she took a bite of the forbidden fruit.
For so many years, I thought insecurity was just part of
being a girl. Every girl I knew was insecure. It seemed that it had always been
that way and always would be. We need to get real about the fact that this is
one of the Enemy’s tactics. If he can get us to fix our eyes on ourselves and
all the ways we fall short, we will inevitably take our eyes off of Christ and
all the ways He is enough. This has been true since the very beginning of
womanhood, but it doesn’t have to be the way your story goes.
God
doesn’t leave you guessing.
God doesn’t leave us guessing
about our value and worth to Him. Several years ago, my world was totally
rocked when I opened my Bible and prayed this prayer.
“God show me how you feel about
me.”
I didn’t find some cute, little
slogan about how God loves me the way that I am (even though that’s true). I
didn’t find just a few compliments here and there. What I found was that from
Genesis to Revelation, God’s Word declares God’s deep, everlasting, and
dependable love and acceptance of me. You don’t have to take my word for it. In
fact, I’d love for you to go digging into God’s Word for yourself for answers
about His feelings toward you. But here is a snapshot.
He knows every detail of who you
are. He studies you like an artist studies his masterpiece or a groom studies
his bride to be (Matt. 10:30).
I
can’t do anything about fat days. I don’t have a magic wand that can clear up
your skin and trick out your closet. (Or I would wave it for myself, for sure!)
But eventually I had to ask myself, “In light of all that God says about me,
shouldn’t these things matter less?”
Ultimately, insecurity is about
unbelief. We don’t believe that we are who God says that we are. The tentacles
of insecurity started to loosen their grip on my heart when I finally chose to
believe God’s Word about my worth and value and decided to let it be enough.
The
Secret to Confidence
Time has taught me a secret I
wish I’d known as a teenager—the prettiest girls are the most confident girls.
They’re not necessarily confident because they’re pretty. They’re pretty
because they’re confident.
People are always drawn to a girl
who knows who she is and isn’t afraid to show it. If you’re a Christian, that’s
who you are. You are the daughter of the King of kings! Be that 100%. Be
confident in your value to Him and the beauty that He created for you to
showcase. I promise, people will be drawn to your confidence.
Insecurity doesn’t have to be a
part of your story. You can be confident in who God says that you are. The
Bible tells us that is the secret to unlocking true beauty.
“Do not let your adorning be
external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the
clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with
the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is
very precious” (1 Peter 3:3–4).
