No Reason To Feel Insecure

I admire self-confident people. I guess the reason is because I have never been one. What ever happens genetically to infuse a person’s heart with strength and confidence never happened with me. I was like the overwhelming majority of people in this society who knows their shortcomings all too well.

Many Christians are like I was. The insecurity I experienced in my unsaved life did not stop when I came to Jesus Christ. Just as I tried to be good enough to make friends, I put on a road show for Jesus Christ. That’s why I blended in so well with the doctrine that I was under, because I was already accustomed to trying to fit in. I wanted to prove that I loved Jesus and trusted His Word. I wanted everyone to know that my relationship with Jesus was so awesome and special, and that the anointing was in every blood cell in my body. I believed that Jesus answered prayer, but I wanted everyone else to know that I believed it, so I was always trying to run through troops and leap over walls. Often, the only walls to leap were the ones I created. I was playing a role that was so unnecessary.

You see, when you give your life to Jesus, you have no reason to feel insecure. We are all acceptable in God’s sight through the blood of Jesus. Christ spoke gentle words of forgiveness to those who were disheartened because of their sins and shortcomings. The religious elite criticized Jesus for spending too much time with publicans and sinners. Instead of chanting religious lingo at the temple, Jesus was fellowshipped with outcasts. He said that the whole does not need a physician but those who are sick (See Luke 5:31-32). You can live a long time if you’re healthy, but unattended illness carries an unfavorable prognosis.

Did you notice that the very ones who were considered "not good enough", were the ones who accepted Jesus. They gladly fellowshipped with Him and heard His Word. Jesus was able to heal and deliver many of the outcasts of society, but He only came across a Nicodemus every now and then.

It is not bad to have insecurity. It let’s us know that our confidence is not in ourselves. We know that if any good and purposeful work comes out of us, it has to come from a greater source. Somehow we sense our need for grace and forgiveness. Salvation brings about a radical change inside of us. It is like suddenly finding our place after drifting aimlessly on a lonely sea of desperation.

Mankind is utterly lost. Through Adam we inherited eternal separation. Paul spoke of our hopelessness when he said that we were without hope and without God in this world. We were dead and without any chance of spiritual renewal apart from supernatural intervention. Even the most gifted and confident professional is powerless to do anything about his alienation.

Can you imagine the joy that individuals feel when they discover that they do not have to be good enough to be saved? Realizing that God loves us is a source of great comfort, even though we cannot comprehend or understand why. Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, even when we were dead in sin, quickened us together with Christ Ephesians 2:4-5.

Even though we may not fully understand the love of God, we can still believe and trust Him. Paul considered Himself the worse of sinners, but acknowledged that sinners were the reason Christ came into the world. And if He came into the world to save sinners, then surely He must have the means and ability to do it. He has demonstrated His grace and favor through Jesus Christ. Our salvation is secure; we can count on it. And like Paul, we should be grateful, knowing full well that we don’t deserve it, and we cannot justify or repay it.

I was never good at playing the odds. I tried to gamble and lost. I played sports on mediocre teams. I was an average academic performer in school. I was never quite sure who to believe, let alone how to believe in myself. So I needed a salvation that I did not have to compete for. I would never have been able to believe I could receive it. So God gave it to me freely on the virtues of Himself.

Do you know anyone who is like I was? Striving, working, fighting to prove they are good enough to be loved; that their life is worth something to somebody. They have shed countless tears as they ponder in their heart the countless mistakes they have made. They are disheartened and confused.

I want you to know today that you are at your starting point. I encourage you to trust the One who has done it all. Since you couldn’t do it, He did it all. He didn’t leave anything undone; every aspect of salvation is taken care of. You have no reason to feel insecure. Since God is for you, who can be against you.