Just about all of us struggle with insecurities at some point or another. We feel as though we aren't "good enough" to measure up to other people's standards. Maybe we feel shallow or ignorant, like our brains just don't work as well as someone else's. Maybe it's our bodies -- we just can't seem to get in shape no matter how much we exercise and eat right. Maybe we just don't feel as put together and "with it" as all the people around us seem to be.

Those are important things -- we ought to use our minds to the glory of God, and glorify Him in our bodies as well. But they are not the ultimate goals of this life. God does not judge us based on how smart we are, or how good we look. He especially does not judge us based on how we compare to others. Read some of His criterion for judging His children, and see if they don't calm all your insecurities:

"What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."

"Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore."

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."

Still feeling insecure? Read through the rest of Proverbs 3. It is character that matters more than anything.

(Micah 6:8; Psalm 37:3,7,27; Proverbs 3:5-8)

Thanks for the timely thoughts. While I was on lunch earlier, I had been thinking about Daniel in the place that God had put him and his commitment to glorifying God in what he did.