I don’t believe that we were born insecure or lacking in confidence. You see it in children all the time. Children embrace life with a sense of adventure and with a sense of “what if”. Children aren’t born lacking confidence, however with time, through life experiences and upbringing, events and circumstances can shape and influence our confidence. We then try to find our confidence in other things, and when those things fail or disappoint us, it completely shakes our world, because our confidence was placed in the wrong things.

FINDING OUR CONFIDENCE IN THE WRONG THINGS:

  • In others: In what others say about us or think of us.
  • In things: In what we own, such as material objects.
  • In what we do, not in who we are.

WHY DO WE LACK CONFIDENCE?

  • We grew up never truly understanding our self-worth and value.
  • We grew up understanding a culture of self-doubt within our family upbringing.
  • Maybe people hurt us over the years, intentionally or unintentionally.
  • Maybe we were victims of emotional, physical or mental abuse and that has shaped the way we perceive ourselves and others.
  • Over the years we have started to believe in the lies of self-doubt and fear.
  • Maybe we made a mistake or messed up and now we believe we are a total mess up.

I know for me there have been very clear and distinctive moments in my life that had negatively shaped me. They were moments or instances that left me thinking and believing that I wasn’t called to do great things; that I would probably fail, and that I would be rejected because I wasn’t good enough. After a while these thoughts lived in my heart, and controlled my every move. It was a dangerous and very sad space to be in. My world felt very small, and I felt very frustrated by it.

Until one day, I felt God say to me :

You are worth so much more than this!

In that moment I knew I had two choices:

1. Ignore the voice of God.

2. Focus on God, so that I could unpack and discover what those words meant for me!

So, I decided to pursue God relentlessly. I decided to put my faith and confidence in Him. That meant I had to seek Him daily, and surrender all fearful thoughts into His loving hands. With every bit of surrendering, I felt Him speak into areas of my life that lacked truth, value and self-worth. But with time, God revealed his loving nature towards me, and I started believing that I was created in His perfect image, that He had created me (all of us) for greatness, and that it was not too late to dream in Him again! Slowly but surely, I felt as if all the hurt and disappointments started to disappear as His truth started to heal every wound.

This new-found confidence came from knowing who I was in God.

This confidence comes from a place of trusting in Him and also trusting in what He has created me for. This confidence comes from knowing my purpose is found in Him. This confidence is not arrogant – it celebrates, and it shares with others; if anything, it inspires others around us! This confidence comes from being in a relationship with God. It starts to shape us when we start to understand who we are in Him.

Why not start today by seeking God and by getting to know Him. If this post spoke to you, then why not click on the link below.