How to Overcome Insecurity and Embrace Your Talent
Some are born with it. Others word hard to cultivate it. Some appreciate it. Others take it for granted. Some of us hone it over the years while others abuse it over time.
Talent. A special ability that sets us apart from our peers. Talent makes us feel significant, powerful, and even invincible as it moves us toward achievement and success.
Yet even if we are blessed with some God-given talent, sometimes we glance in the mirror and feel a twinge of incompetence. We hear a small whisper telling us we are inadequate and ill-equipped. “Who are you to start a new business? Teach a class? Write a book? Get your degree?” We think the bar is set higher than we can possibly reach so we give up. We surrender to the Enemy. We start comparing ourselves to our co-workers, our friends, or other parents, and we tell ourselves we don’t measure up. We resurrect our sibling rivalry and deem ourselves second-rate.
We often worry that we don’t have what it takes to succeed. We check out Facebook and Twitter and realize that everyone around us has more followers and friends than we do. We feel incompetent, unqualified, and incapable. So instead of playing the game, we bury our talents in the backyard and call it a day.
There is just one problem with this mentality: this is not what God has called us to do. God has given us each a set of gifts. Instead of wasting time comparing our gifts, overanalyzing our gifts, or wishing we had different gifts, we need to put our gifts into action. Anything else is a sin. (If You Could See as Jesus Sees, pg. 82)
Even Academy-award winning actor, Johnny Depp, struggled with realizing his own talent. “As a teenager I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent at all. For nothing. And that thought took away all my ambition too.”
From where does this dismal self-portrait stem? Did it start when we lost the lead in the high school play? When we failed our freshman English class? When we got fired from our first job? When our mom told us we were not pretty enough or our dad told us we were not smart enough? Life experiences, and the people journeying with us, often shape our view of ourselves.
If we could switch our lens, if we could stop seeing ourselves as less than who we really are, then we would start seeing ourselves through Jesus’ lens of talent. Only then would we realize we are uniquely gifted, perfectly equipped, and boldly called to carry out the exact mission God has planned for us.
Never doubt that God has equipped you with the talent you need for your job, your family, and your ministry. Once you embrace this truth, you will be capable of loving those in your sphere of influence.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
As a mom of four who works part-time from home, many people say to me, “I don’t know how you do it all.” It’s a common cliché for the modern woman trying to balance family and work. Ironically, I have said this exact phrase to many other women. Yet, when I take a deep breath, I know it boils down to not wanting to waste any opportunities God puts in my path. As writer Erma Bombeck once wrote:
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.”
Connect more with Elizabeth Oates as www.elizabethoates.com
You can also purchase a copy of her new book If You Could See As Jesus Sees on Amazon or at your local Barnes and Noble!
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