By Chris WittsSaturday 29 Sep 2018Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 3 minutes
Today’s question: I have struggled with an inferiority complex all my life. I have accepted the Lord and it helped a little. But I still struggle with a lot of insecurities. I have seen a psychologist about my problem, but he doesn’t seem to understand my faith in the Lord. So I feel uncomfortable with him. Can you help me?
You are not alone in this struggle with inferiority. The children of Israel experienced inferiority after the 12 spies came back from exploring the Promised Land. They said, “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:33)
You are experiencing the same thing they experienced: a grasshopper complex.
You see, we are programmed to see ourselves a certain way by the words people speak to us and the experiences of our lives. If the words we hear are positive and our experiences wonderful, then we usually have a good self-image. Obviously, you have experienced the opposite.
How God Sees Us
How can you overcome all these negative words and bad experiences? The answer is all in the Bible. You need to reprogram your mind to God’s Word. You must think about yourself the way God thinks about you. And how does God see you?
He sees you ‘in Christ’. Now this phrase ‘in Christ’ is very important, because this phrase describes you. The opposite of ‘in Christ’ is ‘in the flesh’. You must quit seeing yourself according to the flesh, and start to see yourself according to the Spirit. The Bible paints a portrait of you ‘in Christ’.
You need to find expressions in the Bible such as ‘in Christ’, ‘in him’, ‘in whom’, ‘in the beloved’, ‘with Christ’, ‘through Christ’, etc. Then highlight them in your Bible and write them out on a separate paper. After that, start to personalise these verses by using the pronoun ‘I’, and confess them out loud.
For example, 1 Corinthians 1:5 says, “For in Him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and all your knowledge.” So you will confess this scripture this way: “For in Him I have been enriched in every way—in all my speaking and in all my knowledge.”
Make This a Daily Routine
Can you see how doing this every day for the rest of your life will change your self-image? Now, you must be disciplined in this spiritual exercise. You can’t try it for a while and stop, and expect it to work. You must make this routine a daily part of your life.
Thousands of people have done this, and have experienced marvellous results. It can happen to you too!
- Bear in mind that every human being in this world is different; no-one’s face or body is the same. Your ‘inferiority’, as you may refer to it, can also be seen as a unique or individual quality. What makes you think these things are ‘inferior’ to everyone else? If there is no norm amongst human beings, how can there possibly be any form of inferiority?
- Ignore what others may perceive of your ‘inferiority’. Remember that 99.9% of people you walk past in the streets and towns pay no attention to you for any reason.
- Confront your biggest fears. Do you think people will stare at you or make comments? These are all valid worries, but do bear in mind: everyone is different. Any comments you receive are invalid and must be ignored at all costs. It’s absolutely certain there is something they think is wrong with them too.
- If you find your inferiority difficult to deal with, enlist the help of a friend. Good friends will help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be. Good friends will help tell you the truth, and you can work on ways to make you feel better about yourself. If you find it difficult to talk with friends, ask them if they feel inferior sometimes—you may be surprised how worried people get.
- Examine other people (although not through obvious staring). How do they react to their own bodies? This could help you in your situation.
The Scriptures provide this advice:
- Forget the past (Philippians 3:13)
- Remember who you are in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:11-13)
- Trust Christ Jesus for the future (Philippians 3:14)
- Believe in prayer (Philippians 4:6)
- Remember Jesus intercedes for you (Hebrews 4:15-16)