Latest / Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast / Everyone is Desperately Insecure

Transcript

Everyone is Desperately Insecure · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

0:11
Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
0:14
There's one thing that's absolutely true of every
0:17
single person. No matter the culture, the country,
0:21
the status, we all have one thing in common.
0:24
It's built into our human psyche. And no matter
0:26
how hard we try to get beyond it, it plagues
0:29
us. It's the number one reason we struggle in
0:33
life and relationships. That's what we're going
0:36
to talk about today. You don't want to miss it.
0:37
Stay with me. The people who seem to have it
0:41
all together, confident, successful, put together,
0:45
like they've got it all figured out, are hiding
0:47
something too. And once you see it, it changes
0:50
how you relate to absolutely everyone around
0:53
you. I'm Dave Drewy, and today on Living on the
0:56
Edge, Chip Ingram takes us all the way back to
0:58
the Garden of Eden to the exact moment insecurity
1:01
entered the human race. We're discovering how
1:04
every single person we'll ever meet is carrying
1:07
the same struggle deep inside. Now here's Chip
1:10
continuing our series Caring Enough to Connect
1:13
with today's message titled Everyone is Desperately
1:17
Insecure. Everyone is desperately insecure. That
1:23
may sound a little crazy, but recognize everyone
1:26
is desperately insecure. Not some people, but
1:30
everyone. Some may be a little bit more insecure
1:34
than others. But, I mean, this changed. I mean,
1:38
my paradigm shift of looking at every single
1:42
person in every situation completely changed
1:44
when I realized everyone, the people that seem
1:47
to have it together, the people that are upwardly
1:50
mobile, the people that are smart, the people
1:52
that are athletic, the people that are beautiful,
1:54
the people that seem to have everything in a
1:56
way that you think, oh, it looks so wonderful.
1:58
Let me tell you, behind all that, they are desperately
2:01
insecure, just like you and just like me. And
2:05
that will change how you process their words,
2:09
how you relate to them, how you think about them,
2:13
and how you think about yourself. And I hope
2:16
many of you are saying, well, you better have
2:17
a verse for this one, buddy, because that's a
2:19
pretty radical statement. You mean when I walk
2:21
up and down the mall or I go down the greenway
2:24
and I look at people or I meet someone in a business
2:26
deal or I'm having a conflict with my wife or
2:29
I'm having a conflict with one of my kids or
2:30
I'm single and I'm dating someone and we're starting
2:32
to get to know one another, that one of the major
2:34
principles I need to remember 100 % of the time
2:36
is that everyone is desperately insecure? That's
2:39
exactly what I'm saying. Turn in your Bibles.
2:43
Are you ready? This is an easy one. Genesis chapter
2:46
3. Go all the way back to the beginning. Genesis
2:49
chapter 3. Because I want to tell you the basis
2:52
for our insecurity and why I can say everyone's
2:55
desperately insecure. Now, I will tell you, some
2:57
people can hide it better than others. I was
3:00
a master at it. But it was very liberating to
3:04
discover I was desperately insecure. Genesis
3:06
chapter 3, verses 8 to 10. You got it? Okay,
3:11
let's follow along. They heard the sound of the
3:14
Lord. God walking in the garden in the cool of
3:17
the day and the man and his wife hid themselves
3:19
from the presence of the Lord God among the trees
3:22
of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the
3:25
man and said to him, where are you? He said,
3:27
I heard the sound of you in the garden and I
3:30
was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.
3:35
If in your Bible it's okay to underline or circle
3:38
something, I would go up into verse 8. The man
3:41
and his wife, you could circle the phrase, hid
3:44
themselves. Now, you know the context is God
3:47
gave them a perfect environment. God said, all
3:50
of this is for you. There's only one restriction.
3:52
Don't eat from this tree. They do. This is the
3:56
result of sin. In the day that you eat, you will
3:59
surely die. And they didn't physically die. Death
4:03
in Scripture has to do with separation from God.
4:05
It always brings separation. And notice that
4:08
after sin has entered the world, God comes and
4:12
he wants to fellowship with them. They hear God's
4:15
voice, and the man and the wife, they hid themselves.
4:18
Then God calls out. He knows exactly what's happened.
4:21
But he asks a rhetorical question, and he says,
4:24
where are you? Now notice what happens. I heard
4:28
the sound of you in the garden. And up until
4:31
this day, when they heard the sound of him in
4:33
the garden, they were both naked, right? And
4:36
they went to meet God. Oh, it's great to see
4:39
you. And they were open and vulnerable with one
4:41
another. And they were never afraid. They were
4:42
never, ever afraid. And they heard God's voice.
4:45
Oh, it's so good to see you. But now something
4:47
happened. Now they hear God coming. Look at the
4:52
progression. They were afraid. Why? Because I
4:57
was naked, so I hid myself. The fall brought
5:01
guilt and shame, and the result is fear -based
5:06
relationships with God and others. You need to
5:10
understand the human species. You know how we
5:12
relate? We relate out of fear. I'm afraid you'll
5:16
what? See me for who I really am. Isn't that
5:19
what naked is? I mean, it's physically naked
5:23
here, but they were psychologically naked. They
5:25
were emotionally naked. They were afraid God
5:28
would see them. They knew they had imperfections
5:31
now. Before they were secure, they were safe,
5:36
and now sin has entered, and now they're non
5:41
-safe or insecure, which makes them what? Insecure
5:47
people. And insecure people relate out of fear.
5:53
They spend their energy. hiding from God and
6:00
hiding from one another. And so every single
6:04
person you meet is desperately insecure. They're
6:08
trying to cover up who they really are because
6:12
down deep, here's my thinking, here's your thinking,
6:15
it's the human species. Down deep, my greatest
6:17
fear is that you'll see who I really am. And
6:21
if you see who I really am, I'm convinced. you
6:25
wouldn't like me. In fact, most of us spend our
6:30
lives in relationships playing games, posturing,
6:34
pretending, and image casting so that people
6:39
can't see who we really are. And we try to figure
6:42
out what others will like or what we think will
6:45
be accepted. And then we try and project that
6:48
all the while hiding who we really are to protect
6:52
ourselves from being rejected. And I'm telling
6:55
you, if you ever get that and understand that,
6:58
it'll liberate your life. I mean, the people
7:02
that you are most intimidated by, the people
7:05
that power up, and I mean, you just feel like
7:08
you want to cringe. Here's what you need to understand.
7:11
All of us have tools or methods to create distance
7:15
between us and other people so that we feel safe.
7:19
Okay? Now, if you want to, it's out of print,
7:22
but I mean, I can save you reading the whole
7:24
book. Transformational book. Swiss psychologist
7:27
Paul Tournier, Christian, wrote a book called
7:30
The Strong and the Weak. And the whole book's
7:34
thesis is everyone in the world is desperately
7:37
insecure, and we manifest it either in strong
7:42
responses. or in weak responses. And the whole
7:45
book is, you know, cases of all the clients that
7:47
he has. And so people that are power up, people
7:49
who have to dress absolutely perfect, people
7:52
who tell you how many people report to them,
7:54
what kind of car they drive, how much money they
7:55
have, and, you know, all the stuff to make you,
7:58
they're really, really big. People that are arrogant,
8:01
people who talk about themselves in the third
8:03
person, a la ESPN, you know. What we feel like
8:10
is we either feel really turned off by those
8:12
people or we feel intimidated by those people.
8:15
People that have strong outbursts of anger. Who
8:18
are you to say that ever like that? What are
8:19
they doing? They figured out a way to create
8:22
distance. Why? So it's safe. Very strong reactions
8:29
are carried out by very insecure people. That's
8:35
just how some people... Express it. But the goal
8:37
is the same. It's just to keep distance so you
8:40
won't know who they really are. On the other
8:42
hand, ultra weak reactions, you say hi to someone
8:45
and they look at their feet. I'm a victim. No
8:48
one ever likes me. No, I can't talk to you right
8:51
now. People who withdraw, people who won't look
8:55
you in the eye, people who avoid people, people
8:58
who won't get involved in relationships, people
9:00
who isolate themselves to extremes. What are
9:04
they doing? Their underlying belief system is,
9:07
if you ever knew who I was, you wouldn't like
9:09
me, and I can keep you from knowing who I really
9:12
am, because like a shellfish, I'm closed tight,
9:17
and I'll be superficial, but you'll never get
9:19
me to open up and see who I really am. I was
9:23
in the very first pastorate, and I only had two,
9:27
and I grew up, my parents were school teachers,
9:29
okay? And my parents' combined salary when they
9:34
started teaching school was about $4 ,600. And
9:37
even back then, that wasn't much. And so my roots
9:41
are a little rent house with two bedrooms. My
9:43
parents slept in one room, and the three of us
9:45
kids, two girls and me, we all slept, I was small,
9:48
in the other room. And then little by little
9:50
by little, my dad came out of the Depression.
9:53
At 13, his father died of gangrene because he
9:56
wouldn't treat... an accident on his leg, and
10:00
my dad watched all the farm equipment in the
10:02
farm be sold out from under him. And him, as
10:05
a 16 -year -old, signed in to go into the Marines
10:08
in World War II because, you know, what am I
10:11
going to do with my life? So frugality and the
10:15
idea of working hard and the sense that, you
10:18
know, you don't have much. My dad was the kind
10:21
of guy that checked the locks about five times
10:23
each night before he went to bed. And I thought,
10:26
man, you are weird, dude. And then I thought,
10:29
you know, maybe if I'd been in Guam and Iwo Jima,
10:31
maybe I'd check them five times too. And all
10:35
that produced was someone who lived with a mentality
10:39
that, you know, I just save, save, save money
10:41
and had eight or ten, you know, lawn mowing jobs
10:44
and two paper routes. And then I end up in this
10:48
pastorate in a rural town. But it was really
10:51
a misnomer because it was about 35 people. But
10:55
they were people that all worked in Dallas, and
10:57
they wanted a nice church out in this rural area
10:59
30 miles outside of Dallas. But one guy owned,
11:02
you know, a Yamaha shop, apartment complexes.
11:06
Another guy owned an insurance agency. Another
11:09
guy owned one of the largest CPA firms. So, you
11:11
know, they would have these trucks and ranches
11:14
and sort of play cowboy on the weekends, and
11:17
they would all get dressed up and run Dallas.
11:19
And so we would go to their homes, and these
11:21
are my roots, okay, and Southern Living Magazine,
11:24
and I'd look at all the stuff they had, and man,
11:28
I was so intimidated. And I just felt like, I
11:31
mean, there's only 35 people, but I'm so over
11:34
my head. These are wealthy people, and wealthy
11:36
people must be really smart, and really smart
11:38
wealthy people must be a lot better than me.
11:40
And I'm just kind of a regular guy, and I'm shopping
11:43
at Kmart, and they're talking about Neiman Marcus
11:45
has a sale on, and I'm not sure who Neiman Marcus
11:48
is. You know, and I'm just overwhelmed with being
11:52
insecure. And, you know, I'm uptight. And this
11:56
one guy we meet for breakfast for discipleship,
11:58
he pays every time for everything. And I'm feeling
12:01
like, man, this is, I don't know what's with
12:03
this, but this is dysfunctional. And I remember
12:05
reading that book, The Strong and the Weak. And
12:07
then after two or three years, I started counseling
12:09
those families. And those real together, wealthy,
12:13
very smart, from great universities, with kids
12:15
going to great universities, with high SAT scores
12:17
that were pillars of the community, I'm underneath
12:20
dealing with the junk and the dysfunction. And
12:24
what I saw was, you know what, there's nothing
12:26
wrong with being wealthy, but it doesn't solve
12:32
your relational issues. And what I saw was, you
12:35
know something, they had a lot more stuff than
12:37
I had, but I think they had as many problems
12:39
as I did. My dad was an alcoholic and Teresa's
12:42
dad was too. And I remember the very first time
12:44
I got breakfast with this guy and I got there
12:46
early and I knew what we always ordered and I
12:48
paid in advance and I paid in advance and then
12:50
we got ready and he was going to write the check
12:52
and I said, you know, I already paid. No, no,
12:54
no, no. See what he did is? What he learned to
12:57
do is control and power up on people by always
12:59
paying the bills. So people were indebted to
13:01
him because he was very insecure and very powerful.
13:04
And the way you express that when you have a
13:06
lot of money is you control everybody with your
13:08
money. And then when they don't come through,
13:10
then you cut off the money and you play lots
13:12
of games and you don't even know you're doing
13:13
it. And so I told him, no, no, I've already paid.
13:16
And he goes, no, you can't do that. You're the
13:17
poor little pastor. He didn't say those words,
13:19
but that was what he meant. And I'm the big,
13:21
rich, godly guy, you know. And then I looked
13:23
him in the eye and I had one of those moments.
13:25
I said, look. And by the way, right now he's
13:27
one of my closest friends in the world. I said,
13:29
do you want to be friends or not? And he looked
13:31
at me, what do you mean? I said, I'm not playing
13:34
the game. I've watched what you do with your
13:35
children. I've counseled you and your wife. I
13:38
see how your kids are. The strings of the money
13:40
happen everywhere. Tell you what, when we eat
13:42
at a place like this, I'll pay at least half
13:44
the time. If we go to some country club and it's
13:47
like 40 bucks a dinner, you can pay. I don't
13:48
have that kind of money. But I'm going to pay
13:51
half the time or you're the big hot shot and
13:54
I'm the little dinky guy. And I want a friend.
13:56
And if you don't want a friend and there's not
13:58
peer and we're not going to be on the same ground
14:00
level at the cross, then let's stop meeting.
14:02
But if you want to have a real man to a real
14:05
man in a real relationship, you pay sometimes
14:07
and I'll pay sometimes. I get to make sacrifices
14:10
for you and you get to make sacrifices for me.
14:13
And by the way, I think a lot of this chaos in
14:15
your family is, man, you're desperately insecure
14:17
just like me. And he looked at me like. And 30
14:21
years later, we're just like best friends, and
14:23
he's been one of the great mentors of my life.
14:26
But I'm telling you, everyone is desperately
14:30
insecure. There is no one that has it all together.
14:36
Everyone is hiding. Everyone is pretending. Everyone
14:39
is posturing. Everyone is kind of projecting
14:44
to some degree or another. And so let's get to
14:46
the solution side. So how do you deal with this?
14:49
When uncomfortable or threatened or afraid, simply
14:53
admit or verbalize appropriately and refuse to
14:56
play the game. I mean, that's how you deal with
14:59
this, what you do. Once you get this on the table,
15:01
then we get to the practice. And the practice
15:04
is take off your mask. Authenticity builds genuine
15:09
relational intimacy. Hypocrisy destroys it. You
15:13
got to take off your mask. You know, jot in the
15:16
corner of your page somewhere there. Acts chapter
15:19
5. It amazes me that the very first sin recorded
15:25
in the early church was what? Hypocrisy. And
15:28
the judgment was death. And, you know, sometimes
15:32
you read that, you know, especially like me,
15:34
I didn't read up growing the Bible. Chapter 1
15:35
of Acts, chapter 2 of Acts, chapter 3 of Acts,
15:37
chapter... Oh, really exciting. The church is
15:38
growing. Real exciting. Then Ananias and Sapphira
15:41
and... I mean, they just told a lie, but the
15:43
lie was pretending that they were something that
15:45
they weren't. They projected a level of commitment
15:48
that they weren't. And what did God do? Because
15:51
once there's authenticity's gone, all you have
15:54
is a charade. People, you know, non -Christians,
15:57
see, I grew up as a non -Christian most of my
15:59
life. Non -Christians aren't looking for perfect
16:01
Christians. They're looking for real Christians.
16:03
That doesn't mean you've got it all together.
16:05
It doesn't mean you have all the answers. It
16:06
doesn't mean you're always perfect. It means
16:08
when you mess up, you say stuff like, man, I
16:10
am sorry. Are you ready for this? I really messed
16:12
up. Take off your mask. Authenticity builds.
16:18
Relational intimacy, hypocrisy destroys it. And
16:21
it never ends. I mean, I guess you get better
16:23
as we grow and find our security in Christ. It
16:26
never ends. I remember early on as the radio
16:29
ministry started growing and then I got invited
16:31
to these dinners. Now imagine with my roots,
16:33
you know. I grew up playing little league baseball
16:36
and blue light specials at Kmart and then going
16:39
from the little 800 square feet house to the
16:41
1200 square feet house with my parents, you know,
16:43
little by little and playing a little NAIA school.
16:46
And now I'm sitting at the table with Tony Evans
16:48
and Chuck Swindoll and all these Christian leaders
16:51
and I'm invited to this thing. Now here I am.
16:54
It's like 15 years later. 20 years later, and
16:58
I have all the same feelings I had in that little
17:00
town. These are the really big shots. These are
17:02
the Christian leaders of the world. They've written
17:04
all these books. They're so spiritual, and I'm
17:06
this little peon, right? Does anyone else, you're
17:08
looking at me like I'm on drugs or something.
17:10
Does anyone else have these feelings? Anyone
17:13
else ever get, you know, right? Okay? And so,
17:16
but now the question is, well, how do you deal
17:18
with this? You know what you do? You admit it
17:22
as soon as possible and verbalize it appropriately
17:25
so that it's like taking a needle and get the
17:28
air out of the phony balloon. And so I don't
17:30
know how it happened, but I'm sitting next to
17:32
Chuck Swindoll. Well, he's like one of my heroes.
17:35
And I'm thinking, so what am I going to do? You
17:37
know, am I going to pretend and tell him how
17:39
many stations we're on and, you know, put my
17:41
chest out and try and tell him all the good things
17:43
that have happened? What? Why? Because I'm insecure.
17:45
I'm afraid that if he really knew who I really
17:47
am and how afraid I really am in this situation,
17:49
he's going to think I'm a little nobody, which
17:51
is exactly how I feel. Or am I just going to
17:54
figure out, now, how can we get the mask off
17:56
here? And so I sat there very uncomfortably and
17:59
my wife equally uncomfortably. And I turned to
18:02
him and I said, excuse me, Dr. Swindoll. And
18:04
he's so neat. He goes, actually, my name's Chuck.
18:08
Okay, hey, Chuck, you know. And, you know, we
18:12
did a little chit -chat. And then I just said,
18:15
could I ask you something? And he said, sure.
18:19
I said, I just got to tell you, man, this whole
18:21
environment just intimidates me to death. And
18:24
I bet it was new for you once. How do you learn
18:28
to be yourself in a situation like that where
18:30
you feel very intimidated? Could you help me
18:32
out? And I mean, the atmosphere went poof. And
18:37
pretty soon, since that dinner, they had this
18:40
special dinner that I end up with him every year.
18:43
I like every year, he just finds me. And he puts
18:45
us, okay, coaching lesson number 32. Okay, here's
18:49
what we learned last year. Here's how you do
18:51
it this year. And it just became, and you know
18:54
what I found out? What's so attractive about
18:56
that guy is he's so real, that who you hear on
18:59
the radio and who you meet up close is just a
19:01
regular guy. But what broke the bubble was admitting
19:06
that you're afraid, admitting that this is a
19:10
problem. Usually when I do pastor's conferences,
19:12
I figure out somewhere in that message, even
19:14
if it has nothing to do with the message, I talk
19:16
about, you know, basically we're all insecure
19:18
here, and da -da -da -da, and I tell a couple
19:20
stories on myself where they go, you've got to
19:22
be kidding. Because now, I mean, it's hilarious.
19:24
There's actually some people that are, you know,
19:26
like 15 years behind me, and they think of me
19:29
like I thought of Chuck Swindoll. And I'm thinking,
19:30
oh, brother, these poor people, are they deluded?
19:32
And so I tell them how insecure I am, and I said,
19:35
guys, can we make a rule? Let's not talk about
19:37
the sizes of our church, the sizes of our budgets.
19:39
Let's not try and impress one another. We all
19:41
get struggles. If we could eliminate that the
19:43
first couple days, we could really hear from
19:44
God. And you just get it out on the table, and
19:47
you watch the whole atmosphere change. You got
19:51
it? Principle number one, it all begins with
19:54
God. Principle number two, recognize everyone
19:58
is desperately insecure. Take off your mask.
20:01
Authenticity builds genuine relational intimacy.
20:04
Hypocrisy destroys it. And the last means of
20:08
application would be on this one, catch yourself
20:11
and own it when you start to posture or image
20:15
cast. Or by the way, when I'm defensive, I'm
20:19
usually hiding or running, okay? outbursts of
20:23
anger, withdrawal, give someone the silent treatment.
20:27
Anyone do that in your marriage? Oh, good. Glad.
20:31
Very spiritual group here this morning, you know?
20:36
Having to explain to people, oh, what you understand
20:38
is the reason I was, this happened and this happened
20:40
and this. When I have to explain a lot, when
20:43
I'm defensive, when I have strong anger feelings
20:46
that people pick up even if I don't explode or
20:49
anything, or if I give people the cold shoulder
20:51
or I withdraw, usually that tells me there's
20:56
something inside that I'm feeling very threatened
20:59
by. And these are defense mechanisms. And I need
21:03
to get with God. Own my stuff. And if I postured
21:06
in a meeting, if I told you the number of times
21:08
I've had to get on the phone that night or the
21:12
next morning after I've been in a meeting with
21:13
a group of guys and say, you know something about
21:15
the middle of that meeting? Remember when I kind
21:17
of got off on da -da -da -da -da -da -da and
21:18
this is the way it is and da -da -da? Yeah, I
21:21
think I was probably a little threatened. And
21:25
I'm sorry. That was not Christ -like. Would you
21:28
forgive me for, you know, my little attempt to
21:30
power up there? And here's what I can tell you.
21:34
I don't think people think less of you. I think
21:37
it creates an environment where we can be who
21:39
we really are. And I think the most attractive
21:42
thing about the Lord Jesus was that when he looked
21:46
you in the eye, when he walked upon the earth,
21:48
and when you looked in his eyes, he knew exactly
21:52
who you really are, and he would know exactly
21:56
who I really am, and he just still accepts us.
22:02
You've been listening to Living on the Edge with
22:05
Chip Ingram and a message titled, Everyone is
22:08
Desperately Insecure. Part of our series, Caring
22:11
Enough to Connect, building bridges to those
22:13
we love. If Chip's story about learning to take
22:17
off his own mask hit close to home, you already
22:20
know how hard it is to be honest about your own
22:22
insecurity, let alone build a real relationship
22:25
with someone who's walked away from God entirely.
22:28
That's exactly where Aaron Pierce's book, Not
22:31
Beyond Reach, picks up. It's a practical, field
22:34
-tested guide for dropping the performance, building
22:37
a real friendship, and opening the door to a
22:40
real conversation about Jesus with the son, daughter,
22:43
grandchild, or friend who stopped believing or
22:46
simply never has. Get your copy of Not Beyond
22:49
Reach at a special price today at livingontheedge
22:53
.org. You know, this kind of teaching only reaches
22:57
homes because listeners like you decide again
23:00
and again that it's worth supporting. Your gift
23:04
today keeps living on the edge on the air, giving
23:06
people the truth they need right when they need
23:09
it most. Join us as a monthly partner or make
23:12
a one -time gift today by going online to livingontheedge
23:16
.org or call us at 888 -333 -6003. You can also
23:22
send your gift by mail to Living on the Edge,
23:25
P .O. Box 3007, Sewanee, Georgia 30024. And then
23:31
be sure to connect with us on social media. You
23:34
can follow Living on the Edge on Facebook and
23:36
Instagram for more encouragement throughout the
23:39
week. And subscribe to the Living on the Edge
23:41
podcast so you never miss a message from Chip.
23:45
Well, now here's Chip. As we wrap up today's
23:48
program, I want to take just a minute and talk
23:51
about why it's so important. to begin to catch
23:55
yourself when you posture. I mean, when you start
23:58
doing that image management, when you begin to
24:01
say things or act in a certain way or become
24:04
self -conscious or find yourself talking about
24:06
someone famous that you know, or, you know, we
24:09
all do these things and we create this wall between
24:13
us and other people. And I do it and you do it
24:16
and we do it to hide our fear and hide our insecurity.
24:20
But it also hides the real you. It hides the
24:23
person that God made. But like the Apostle Paul
24:27
would say in 1 Corinthians 15, he says, I am
24:30
what I am by the grace of God, and His grace
24:33
didn't prove vain toward me. But I labored more
24:36
than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of
24:39
God in me. And I talked in this message about
24:43
learning to take off your mask, of just admitting
24:46
your weakness, of stop. Stop trying to get everyone
24:51
to like you. Believe me, I'm an expert on this.
24:54
You know, when you grow up in an alcoholic family
24:57
like I did, man alive, do you learn to read a
25:01
room and figure out what people want and what's
25:03
going to make this group happy or that group
25:05
happy? The problem is the person that will never
25:08
be happy or blessed is you because you lose yourself.
25:12
This posing, this acting, this sort of personality
25:16
chameleon that we can become trying to get other
25:19
people to accept us and like us. Little by little
25:22
by little, it destroys your soul because God
25:25
made you special and you are unique. And the
25:28
most beautiful, powerful person is when you experience
25:31
that freedom. And that freedom comes when you
25:34
know the truth. And the truth sets you free.
25:36
And that's why we talk so much about having a
25:38
sober self -assessment of getting your view of
25:41
yourself from Scripture, of coming to the point
25:44
where your security is in Christ, that you can
25:47
take off your mask and you can go progressively.
25:50
Okay, it's a journey. But progressively, you
25:53
take off your mask and you begin to say to yourself
25:56
in every relationship, there is nothing to lose
26:00
here. And there is no one to impress. And then
26:04
if you recognize that when other people power
26:06
up and when other people start to intimidate
26:08
you, you can kind of have this quiet little secret
26:10
and say to yourself, hmm, they're insecure too.
26:14
Why don't you check that out today and ask God
26:17
to help you just be you. Well, that's all for
26:20
today. Join us next time as Chip Ingram continues
26:22
this series, Caring Enough to Connect, right
26:25
here on Living on the Edge. Today's program is
26:32
produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.