In today's day & age, we live in a fast-paced world where we are constantly pressured with items that promote (to a degree) insecurity, such as feelings of worthlessness, or self-destruction. And it doesn't matter if we follow Christ or not, the devil hits everyone so we all can feel more secure in trying to do anything to "numb the pain", especially if it draws us further away from God. And even as guys, we all fight some self-esteem issue to some degree, and our male pride only complicates the problem!

The main message here (the self-esteem message) has been proven to not provide lasting results against insecurity. Why? Maybe because it revolves around the "self" - self-love, self-acceptance, and self-promotion. "Love yourself". "Be true to yourself". 'Live for yourself".

And yet the scripture says something different:

Whether we want to admit it or not (or are even aware at times), sometimes we approach Jesus, saying "Ok, I'm ready. But I''m not ready to give You full control. I want\need to hold onto some control. I'd sorta' like to see what this is like as I go along so it'll be a partial commitment and we'll see how this'll work. Call it a test drive"

But Jesus said:

Self-denial means "When you come to Jesus, you come to Him completely, you give yourself to Him fully." If our true intentions are to affirm/please/exalt/assert ourselves (and God knows), you're not denying yourself.

"And take up their cross and follow me" is a stern demand. We must be willing to suffer - self-sacrifice is the idea. The idea of the "easy way" isn't a viable option if it disobeys or denies Jesus.

Back to the initial point of this post - When we focus on our insecurities, selfishness.. ourselves, Jesus is telling us "if you try to hold onto what you have, you will miss out on what I have to give you". What's funny is that the cure to our insecurities, is to stop thinking about ourselves!

God does & always has. Look at what He's done for you already. Only He can fill in what's missing, which is really what our insecurities are all about. The secret to being that walking, living, light-beaming advertisement for God is to simply be consumed with one thing - Jesus.

This level of sacrifice isn't the secret to just living out God's Word, but to living in true happiness & security. When we've sacrificed our true selves to Jesus, we don't listen to our own voices (or insecurities), but the voice of our King. We can dismiss the whispers that devil drifts into our ears, because we know that Jesus has our back, and that is where our value stems from.

Look at a previous post - In it, it contained a list of Bible characters that God had used, but they all had their own issues. And just like them, on our own, we are incapable of much. But it's through God when we are capable of anything. We need to stop giving into the "downward spiral' programming that the devil has used throughout our lives, and stand fast in God's Word & promise. And "no", this will not be easy, but nothing ever worth much ever is. And think about the end result - complete security not in self, but in Him.