I’ve been hesitant to write anything from the 2nd half of So Long, Insecurity, because I’ve heard from a number of you that you’re headed out to read it yourselves. I don’t want to spoil it, but I suppose you can’t hear the truth too many times.
As she rounds the bend, Beth outlines some of the ways that people react to insecurity, most of which are addictive or destructive behaviors: Displaying false arrogance, binging, drinking, withdrawing, using medication, etc. Then she made a fabulous point, which was this: “Though I was no longer reacting to insecurity the way the enemy wanted me to, I had not yet begun to react in the way God wanted me to.” Yes! Perhaps we’ve come far enough in our walk with God that we don’t react to insecurity by grabbing a cigarette or eating a half-gallon of ice cream, but I still need to deal with the root of it. And at the root, she brings to the surface this truth. From God’s Word, and from the prime example of God’s beautiful woman in Proverbs 31:
She is clothed with strength and dignity. (v.17)
We usually speak of the Proverbs 31 woman as “the Virtuous Woman” and she certainly is, but Beth Moore argues that the Hebrew language of this passage suggests that she would be more appropriately named a Woman of Valor. Brave, mighty, dignified. Why? Because she recognizes the most crucial component of our identity: We were made in the image of God.
We were made in the image of God and bought by the precious blood of Christ, which gives us a God-given dignity that is beyond measure, that is mind-boggling, that is unable to be taken away. We have dignity and strength because of who God has made us, and He therefore desires us to walk in that dignity and strength.
And isn’t that essentially what insecurity is? It’s forfeiting our dignity. It’s making fools of ourselves. It’s bowing down to others in ways that are neither healthy nor godly no selfless in any way shape or form. The high school girl who sleeps with her boyfriend in order to receive love: loss of dignity. The friend who smothers another friend, emailing over and over and over to try to get the affirmation and reciprocity she desperately wants: loss of dignity. The wife who calls her husband ten times a day or questions him non-stop about whether he thinks she’s pretty or not: loss of dignity. The person who second-guesses every single thing she does and lives by the approval or disapproval of others: Loss of dignity.
That makes me mad. So stinkin’ mad. Because of Satan’s schemes, we look around and see the evidence all over the women in this world–a pervasive loss of dignity that has reduced women either to sex objects, people-pleasing spineless nitwits, jealous and envious competitors, or nail-biting worry warts … or all of the above!
Still lots more to read, but perhaps uncovering the secret to true humility, to defeating the besetting sin of pride, to overcoming the crippling effect of insecurity, is by embracing our God-given identity as dignified women of strength, made in His image, bought by His blood. What would happen if we did this? Let’s give it a try.