Insecurity has the meaning of being unsure, unstable, shaky, apprehensive, or lacking in self-confidence. There are many environments that can cultivate insecurity; difficult upbringings, unsettling circumstances, mistreatments, individual fears, etc. Sometimes insecure feelings are steady, and other times they wash over us in waves. They often cause misunderstandings. Insecure emotions can propel us to act in a self-protective manner shutting others out; rejecting before being rejected. Other times they have the opposite effect, causing a person to work overtime for acceptance.

People who struggle with insecurity find themselves vulnerable to all types of unhealthy situations. This makes it all the more important to quickly identify insecurity.

Those of us who struggle with insecurity can look back on our lives and see the path of destruction (both mild and severe). Our stories will often include making poor choices in friendships, as well as, making poor decisions within those friendships. People who battle with insecurity often create flimsy boundaries and have trouble communicating with those closest to them.

When a person who struggles with insecurity feels threatened, that threat can often turn into a wrongly perceived reality. Though it may not be true in the actual sense, to them it is reality – only wrongly perceived. For instance, if something happens where a person feels threatened or is suspicious of a possible threat, they may perceive the matter erroneously. This will subsequently set in motion a natural defense mechanism in the heart that is hardly even recognized by the person themself. Poor choices automatically flow because they are birthed out of insecurity and the wrongly perceived reality that accompanies it.

Insecurity can manifest itself in many ways. Consider this example: Sally feels threatened because another woman is talking with her boyfriend. Sally becomes suspicious and jumps to a wrong conclusion based on her insecurities. Then Sally makes the choice to voice the suspicion without knowing the motivation of the other woman, her boyfriend, or the circumstances involved. This, of course, sets into motion a flurry of negative repercussions. The other woman’s reputation is called into question. Also, Sally’s boyfriend cools his relationship with Sally, seeing this as a red flag. Sally has caused turmoil due to her incorrect perception of reality, which is based on her insecurities. She may even ask “How did this all happen?”

Using the same scenario an insecure person may be compelled to take an opposite course of action. Here is how that might look. Although Sally sees a woman talking frequently with her boyfriend she does not ask him who the woman is, but chooses instead to ignore the situation. She believes that the fault is hers, and that she simply needs to try harder to win her boyfriend’s affections regardless of how awful if feels because this may be the best relationship she can ever hope for. He, however, continues to be in relationship with this other women and even receives phone calls from her while out with Sally. Two years after Sally has married this man, he tells Sally he’s leaving her. Can you guess why? That’s right–for the other woman. In this scenario, Sally’s wrongly perceive reality (based on insecurity) caused her to put the blinders on, ignore red flags, and remain in an unhealthy relationship.

In the same way insecurity affects the way a person sees others, it also affects the way they see themselves. They may feel as though they are worthless, even to extreme degrees. In their mind nothing about themselves is appealing. Oftentimes, this will manifest itself in choices such as lack of personal hygiene, wearing ill-fitted or unclean clothing, not taking care of home environment, or engaging in unhealthy activities.

On the other hand, it can go to the other extreme causing a person to over-focus on themself, their appearance, their home, and their social life. This person builds a facade of success, masking a deep fear of being found deficient.

Blue Skies: Beyond The Dark Clouds Of Broken Thinking inspires freedom from insecurity’s destructive influences on our minds, helping us to become a person of grace and spiritual strength. 

Joy and peace come from learning to walk in the design God has for our thinking. Every day we battle with old thought patterns and emotions that hold us captive. Blue Skies: Beyond The Dark Clouds Of Broken Thinking leads us step by step; taking us deep into truths that set us free to live into a new narrative, one of confidence and purpose—the story we were meant to live.