Live Free
Have you ever been insecure? I recently struggled with insecurity. I was new to the country and church. I knew only a few people. Some of those that I knew were sweet, but when their friends came in, I became invisible once more. I tried to fit in. I dressed nicely. I wore makeup. I even made myself shy. I did anything I could to just be “normal.” You know what? It didn’t work.
Later, we left the church for unrelated
reasons. I had to start all over. After eighteen months in Guatemala, I only
knew a handful of people and we were leaving them. Well, I finally went to the
One I should have gone to at the beginning. I went to God. He opened my eyes to
my insecurity. He showed me that His opinion is the only one that matters. I learned
that “if the Son sets you free, you really will be free”!
At our new church, during the first
youth group that I went to, I made a friend. Not because I tried to fit in. I
was just being me. I found freedom from my insecurity when I turned to the Son.
I have true friends at church and in my neighborhood. Friends who know me and
just me (with God of course) and not the insecure girl that most people saw for
a while. More importantly, God is my best Friend and my Father. He brought me
through the storm, not around it, to teach me what true freedom is.
Maybe you haven’t ever experienced
the same thing, but I’m sure you have experienced something similar. We all
want to fit in. Today, fitting in means no emotions except for joy. We must
hide what’s going on inside just so that others will like us. The truth is that
seeing someone’s emotions that aren’t joy or starting a conversation with
someone new feels scary. That’s why often we don’t do it.
When I was new to the first church,
I was trapped in my own prison of insecurity. I waited for someone to talk to
me. That’s why I didn’t make many friends. Jesus unlocked my cell and carried
me out of my insecurity. God blessed me with friends who want to know me for
who I am. Now that I’ve experienced all
angles of friendship, I try to include everyone. My personal mission at my
church and my neighborhood is to open those inner circles. If people don’t like
that, and they stop hanging out with me, that’s fine.
Okay, it’s your turn! Go and do the
unheard-of. Do the foreign thing and make new friends. Let them know that you
care. God will use it in your life and other people’s lives as they see you
reach out to others. Live free and don’t fear the crowd.
“So, if the Son sets
you free, you really will be free.”
John
8:36
