We each have our particular areas of competence. And this means others will be better at some things than we are. But instead of letting our insecurity and pride get the best of us, we can use this as an opportunity to bless others. And, in this way, we’re still able to offer our strength to them.
For instance, some people excel in working with their hands, while others have strong minds, relational skills, creative talents, or the like. As such, one guy might be more mechanically inclined while another gravitates towards the arts. Both have a unique strength to bring more life and goodness into the world; it’s just packaged differently.
And these differences should not be a point of insecurity. But all too often we question our strength when it’s not displayed in the same way as our peers or it’s otherwise outside of the status quo of our community. And, to be fair, many times this insecurity might be highlighting a legitimate growth area. But we tend to be dismissive or put others down when our shortcomings are exposed. Perhaps their strength makes us feel emasculated and our ego cannot tolerate this.
A better approach is learning to bless those who excel in areas we don’t. This is not to give up our needed areas of growth, but we don’t have to shortchange the strength we already have either.
To bless is to affirm the inherent goodness of another. And we can only do this from a position of strength ourselves. And so, while we might be offering our strength to each other in different ways, we don’t have to feel less than because of this difference.
In the end, don’t let your insecurities cause envy or resentment to take root in your heart. Learn instead to offer your strength as a blessing to those who excel in areas you don’t.
Photo by Erika Giraud on Unsplash
