Four Keys To Personal Security | The Worshipper's Thought of the Day

(The following blog was originally posted in my MySpace blog on September 4, 2006.)

I just had to share this with everyone on MySpace.  My church (Greenwood Acres F.G.B.C., Shreveport, LA) has an awesome singles ministry, and our last meeting dealt with Personal Security and Insecurity.  Below is information from one of the handouts we received, which was adapted from "A Life of Influence. Exploring Your Identity:Sharpening Your Focus," authored by Tim Elmore.  I have not read the book yet, but I may have to because just this information alone has been very helpful to me.

There are four keys to personal security, the truth of which we must embrace completely in order to prevent us from sabotoging ourselves with our personal insecurities.

Key 1: IDENTITY
You must tie your self-worth to your identity in Christ, not people or performance.  Our security lies in our identifying who God wired us to be.  This means recognizing our unique strengths and gifts, as well as the resources He placed in us, now that we are "in Christ."  Every believer - and certainly every leader - must settle this issue.

Key 2: BROKENNESS
You must allow God to break you of self-sufficiency and self-promotion.  We all want the grace and blessing of God on our lives.  But God "gives grace to the humble."  Brokenness is the pathway to experience what we really want and need.  If God does not break me, I will continue to resolve my insecurities with my own strength and old patterns.  Jacob wrestled with God for years before finally learning the essentials of His grace and blessing.

Key 3: PURPOSE
You must identify your God-given purpose in life, and not imitate someone else.  Just as Jesus was sent with a specific mission to accomplish, so we are sent to accomplish a specific purpose in life.  We are to link our lives with God's purposes for the world.

Key 4: GIVING and RECEIVING "THE BLESSING"
We must learn to let others love and bless us and do the same for them.  In the Old and New Testaments fathers would bless their sons.  This was more than just a simle prayer for them.  It was a display of affection; it was a passing of authority and an expression of faith in that son.  In one sense, it was a rite of passage into manhood.

The Blessing consisted of five ingredients:
     Spoken word >> We need to be affirmed by others.
     Meaningful touch >> We need to be embraced and touched by others.
     Expression of high value >> We need to have our strengths recognized.
     Vision of a special future >> We need someone to believe in our future.
     Applications of genuine commitment >> We need someone to follow through on this blessing.