Insecurity can sideline you. When you feel like you’re unqualified and unworthy of success, self-doubt can make you act in ways that sabotage your chances to be successful. The truth is, it’s impossible to live for long on a level that’s inconsistent with how you see yourself. And one of the biggest problems with insecurity is that it’s almost impossible to acknowledge, so you don’t deal with it and overcome it. Why is that? Because you’re afraid that an admission of vulnerability will:

(1) weaken you in other people’s eyes,

(2) empower and embolden your critics, and

(3) give your competitors an advantage.

Insecurity makes you keep others at a distance. It means living without the counsel and support of the very people whose input can help you to succeed. Bottom line: you have a hard time trusting other people because you have a hard time trusting yourself!

It’s not a new phenomenon. Recorded in the Old Testament, Zophar said to Job, ‘In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress.’ (Job 20:22 NKJV). Note the word ‘distress’, then think of the word ‘stress’. Your insecurity will whisper, ‘If people really knew me, they wouldn’t love me, respect me, follow me, invite me, or invest in me.’

So… what’s the answer? Paul has it! He writes, ‘Not that we are competent… to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent.’ The first step to overcoming insecurity is to draw your self-worth from God and learn to see yourself through His eyes. And you can only do that by spending time with Him in prayer and reading His Word each day.