Acceptance, the creator of insecurity and pride

    

 Why do we strive for acceptance when we are already accepted?  Why do we try to be what others want us to be and give up on becoming who we were meant to be?  Is it really worth it to be loved in this world by being someone you're not?  We have all thought about these questions at one time or another.  Each person in this world longs for acceptance, longs for people to love them for who they are, and for what they believe in.  However, I beg the question, does the acceptance of people in this world truly matter?  If it does, prepare for a life that fluctuates between  pride and insecurity?
     Pride and insecurity run together.  They aren't two completely different entities hanging out on their own.  Pride masks the insecurity that we hide beneath.  It is only a short walk down the road.  The safe neighborhoods and the scary streets all reside in the same town.  The only difference is the opinion of those around you.
     Growing up I was not the most popular kid in school, actually, I was far from it.  I was the kid that wouldn't shut up.  The kid with the super high-pitched voice that probably thought he had more real friends then he did.  I'd act fine at school, but was constantly questioning myself at home.  What can I do to be cool?  What can I say to make them like me?  How do I become popular?  I did everything I could to be who I thought they wanted me to be, the only problem was, I stopped being me.  I stopped being the kid that cared about others.  I stopped hanging out with people because my "friends" didn't like them, or my "friends" thought they were weird.  I skipped one of my best friends birthday parties because he wasn't in my new crowd.  I swore all the time and acted better than people.  I lost myself in striving to be accepted.
     Luckily, this story was a long time ago and I began to realize that these people weren't my friends.  They didn't care about me, or about who I was.  I realized that the acceptance I had gained only masked the feelings I still had inside.  I was prideful about where I was, but my insecurity grew in the midst of me becoming someone I didn't know.  A person that lived for the affirmation of people.  Hoping for them to validate who I was.  To tell me I had made it, that I was cool.  That I was something.  It never happened.
     The problem is that these stories still happen today, as an adult.  We live in a world searching for someone that will say: "You're great, I'm proud of you, keep it up."  Someone that will instill in us a humble confidence to keep moving forward.  A freedom to be ourselves and not worry about what others think.  Now don't get me wrong, there are great people, role models/mentors, and friends in this life, but we shouldn't be looking to them for acceptance.  That searching/looking leads us in so many different directions that all lead to the same problem: Pride and Insecurity.
     Christ gives us a different way.  In Him we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come.  We are free.  Free to be who He created us to be.  Free to let go, free to trust, free to live.  When we place our security and trust in Him He will take our insecurity and become our security.  He will take our pride and change it into a humble confidence in Him and who He is and teach us to stop relying on our own abilities.  When we rely on Christ we realize that we are made perfect in our weakness through Him, which allows us to be confident individuals as we walk throughout life, being ok in our insecurities through the security of Him.