¹⁰ So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.                                                                                                            – Col. 2:10

Zack Blair shared this verse with us Saturday in his message at 19 North and it really stuck out to me. He was telling us that we need to be 100% confident in who we are in Christ before we’ll ever be able to love others the way we’re meant to. Why? Because nobody else can make us happy or make us complete other than God.

The truth is that we’ll always have the opportunity to be insecure about something in our lives. Often times we’ll try to manipulate other to meet our needs and come up empty time and time again. Until we find our security and worth in God, we’ll always be insecure!

I want to take a minute and share some things that have helped me overcome insecurity (I’ve come a long way and still have a long way to go, but I’m getting there!!!) – Here we go:

Realize that the World isn’t Paying Nearly as Much Attention to You as You Think – I joke about it, but don’t you feel like you’re a gladiator in the middle of the coliseum in life? You feel as though millions of people are watching every step and detail of your life and they’re able to see your every imperfection. That’s a huge lie and there is a ton of pride in that statement – truth is that no one is really paying that much attention to your life!

There is a Difference between Joy and Happiness – Proverbs says when God blesses us, He’ll add no sorrow to it. That is what separates Godly prosperity in life from the world’s prosperity in life.  Happiness is a result of external things (materialism, relationships, and other things we expect to make us happy). You can have all the stuff in the world and be absolutely miserable. Joy, however is a fruit of the spirit and a result of a relationship with God. When you know you’re complete with God, you’ll have a joy that you can’t even put into words – you’ll suddenly be able to enjoy everything in your life in a way you never have before because you know the only way to find true joy is to put God first in everyday life.

Realize What You Can and Cannot Change – You need to realize that you’ll never be able to change what you look like, what family you grew up in, etc. However, you do have a choice in how you live and conduct yourself. You have a choice about your attitude in life. Once you recognize the things you cannot change, you can focus on building the most important thing you can change and that is your life. Everyday you’re shaping who you are, so stop trying to change things that you can’t change and start changing the things you can.

Recognize that Beauty is more than Skin Deep - I Peter says we should be known for who we are on the inside. I know looks are important and we need to be attracted to someone we like, but how many beautiful people do you know that opened their mouths and started talking and suddenly they weren’t so beautiful any more? How many less attractive people do you know that once they started talking they became a lot more attractive? In the long term – who you are on the inside will far outweigh who you are on the outside – ask any married couple! Focus on becoming beautiful on the inside!

That is enough for now – I may add some more tomorrow, hope that helps!

What are some things you’ve learned that help you overcome insecurities?

Alright -  so this week was a little more normal than last week’s craziness! Here are some highlights from this week:

• I Got Pranked

• Started Pranking Back – (If you missed this – I “asked out” one of the culprits live at Rev in front of over 120 people!) Then we put peanut butter on their cars and wrapped them in saran wrap!

• I went to Niki’s 3rd birthday party! (Picture below – soooo cute!)

• Thought these articles were awesome this week

• I’ve been listening to this series by Keith Moore – goooood stuff

• You should definitely check out the videos below (Craig Groeschel interviewing Dave Ramsey) It is awesome! If you haven’t gone through Dave’s program, Financial Peace University, yet – I’d highly recommend it!

That’s about it…. enjoy

This has been the second fiction book I’ve read in the past 5 years (the other one was The Alchemist). I read both of these books based upon recommendations from people I look up to and admire. I am glad I read both of them.

The Shack is a great book, in the beginning I remember getting so angry I could kill someone, in the middle I remember finding out how much God loves me, and by the end I was crying like a baby. The book definitely gives you a different perspective of God, Jesus,and the Holy Spirit. In fact, God is actually depicted as an old black woman! I enjoyed reading from a different perspective.

For those of you who are theology freaks – you’re going to have to “eat the hay and spit the sticks” – you won’t agree with everything doctrinally, but press through, it’s worth the read. I think Perry Noble said it well in his review, “My recommendation…read it…but as a work of fiction.  Do not place it on the same level as Scripture…but allow it to stretch you and teach you…who knows, you may learn a thing or two.”

I came away from this book knowing that God loves me more than I could possible imagine, He is interested in every aspect of my life, that in the midst of tragedies in our lives – God will cause good to come of it – whether we understand or not, that we’ll never know all there is too know about God – He is way too big! There are many other lessons I learned through reading this, hopefully I’ve wet your appetite to read it for yourself. Enjoy!

Final Grade: A+       Buy it here