How to Overcome Insecurity and Low Self-Esteem

Has insecurity or low self-esteem been a lifelong struggle? It’s time to get free! Find out how.

READING TIME: 7 MINUTES

Am I enough? Does what I have to offer even mean anything to anyone? Will I ever be seen the way I want to be seen or achieve what I want to achieve? Or am I as small as I feel right now?

Do those thoughts sound familiar?

Those aren’t the only symptoms of insecurity and low self-esteem. Insecurity includes any of the following:

• Feeling inferior to others
• Comparing yourself to others
• Threatened by the success of others (therefore always elevating yourself rather than helping others succeed and advance)
• Lack of confidence
• Feeling unsafe
• Guarded in relationships
• Not knowing who you are (identity crisis)
• Having a deep need for the approval of others
• Always trying to prove yourself, your value or your holiness.

Insecurity is like a disease that consumes everything God has for you—and it is rooted in fear. Jesus came to set you free from anything holding you back—including insecurity. But you have to cooperate with Him to experience deliverance. Here’s how to get free of insecurity and low self-esteem once and for all.

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1. Get a Revelation of Your Relationship With God

“We receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.” –Galatians 3:22

Often, the root of insecurities can be traced back to childhood. Someone who should’ve cared about you didn’t protect you or treasure you, or you experienced abuse. Or maybe it was a series of events that chipped away at your confidence little by little. Subconsciously, you took those feelings of rejection and stored them up in your heart and made them part of who you are. You may not think about it every day, but it lives there inside you—all the time.

Insecurity isn’t an easy bondage to break free from. In fact, those without Christ will likely carry it with them for the rest of their lives. That’s why insecurity is under the curse.

To be set free from insecurity, you need to get a revelation (not just in your mind, but deep down in your spirit) that Jesus came to set you free. Not only did He set you free from sin and sickness, but from anything—anything at all—that is attempting to hold you in bondage and keep you from living the life God has for you. That life is the abundant life—full of joy, peace, fulfillment and confidence.

You can read all the self-help books you like and even attend counseling, but until you get a revelation of God’s love for you, total freedom will remain elusive. Some people know God loves them and wants them free, but they hold onto guilt and feelings of unworthiness. They work overtime to be “enough” and acceptable to God through works—a list of do’s and don’ts they think will make them holy enough.

If you’re trying to earn right-standing with God, you’ll never make it. Galatians 2:16 says, “We have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

Insecurity will often drive people to perform for approval, but Galatians 3:3 confirms, “How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?”

When you’re trying to perform for God or man, you’re missing it. Kenneth Copeland explains, “Performance orientation is based on the fear of rejection. And when you step out in faith and realize there is nothing that you can do to make God love you any less or more—that He loves you no matter what—it’s a wonderful, freeing experience.”

Get a revelation of God’s love for you. You may think you already have it, but if you’re trying to earn approval from God and man, you need more time in the Word and more time with Him. That’s why Gloria Copeland says, “The Word of God is the cure for low self-esteem.”

She adds, “The answer to low self-esteem is to get your mind off yourself, and see yourself as God sees you. When you see yourself victorious, you begin to see yourself as an overcomer.”

Spend time with the Lord until you get a revelation of who you are in Christ. You’ll know you’ve got it when you stop trying to impress others with your performance or your godliness, and when you can let the past go and focus on your glorious future.

Transform your mind with this 21-Day Faith Revolution!

2. Neutralize the Threat

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” –James 4:7

As much as Christ wants you free from insecurity, there’s someone else who desperately wants you to keep you chained to it forever—Satan. He will always be there whispering ugly reminders of what’s been said and done and reminding you of personal failures. All the while, he’ll be tightening the shackles that have held you back for so long.

You may feel powerless under the weight of insecurity. Still, the authority to neutralize the threat has already been placed in your hands. This is no time to question whether you have the strength to wield your spiritual sword—pick it up! Use it! Disarm the foe who has already been defeated yet keeps fighting anyway.

There is no excuse for allowing insecurity to remain in your life—and according to Kenneth Copeland, it’s dangerous:

“You’re going to have to get rid of that low self-esteem. All it does is open the door to self-pity, and self-pity opens the door to discouragement, which brings oppression. And oppression will kill you. I know because it dogged me for years until I got delivered of it.”

How do you neutralize the threat?

Refuse to entertain the thoughts of rejection and inadequacy the devil feeds you.
Talk back to those thoughts with the truth in God’s Word every time.
Watch for behaviors that stem from insecurity, and shut them down immediately:
Comparing yourself to others, including physically, intellectually, financially or careerwise
Criticizing others to elevate yourself
Feeling a need to impress others or be found acceptable in their eyes.
Pray and ask God to bring the Word into your heart until fear and insecurity are permanently dislodged from your life.

Get to a place where you can do as Kenneth Copeland does:

“My security in what I preach does not come because somebody told me it was good. And my insecurity does not come because somebody told me it was bad. I couldn’t care less either way.”

That’s when you know you’re free.

3. Pursue Humility

“Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth.” –Proverbs 27:2

Now, wait a minute. We’re talking about overcoming insecurity, right? How could someone who feels insecure also struggle with humility?

Ah, yes. Well, it happens to be that those who are insecure are those who also struggle the most with humility. Pride becomes a defense mechanism against any more blows to their self-esteem. It says, As long as I can point out the faults of others, it will take my mind off my own feelings of inadequacy.

Maybe you’ve heard that voice yourself. You know, the one that says, “Well, at least I don’t __ [fill in the blank]” (think Pharisees and Judas).
Low self-esteem is not of God, but as Brother Copeland says, “Pride is the ditch on the other side of the road.”

He adds, “I mean, this is right down in the nitty-gritty where more Christians are failing than any other area after they get into faith. More faith people fail right here when they bounce from low self-esteem to pride, back to low self-esteem, then back to pride again.”

The flesh wants to put up a wall and protect itself from further criticism and feelings of failure—it doesn’t think it can handle any more correction from God or anyone else. But that’s a lie of the devil. Facing your shortcomings and accepting God’s correction will promote you, not set you back. That’s why it is so important to pursue humility.

Romans 12:3 (NIV) says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.” That’s not for the good of others—it’s for your good. Pride is a blessing blocker, and it is unacceptable in the eyes of God. That’s why He resists the proud (James 4:6). No matter how bad you think someone else’s behavior is, pride is no better.

Gloria Copeland explains, “People who suffer from low self-esteem think about themselves a lot. You start to center yourself in pride and think more highly of yourself than you ought…and [low self-esteem and pride] both have the same result—they make you the main focus of your life.”

You may not think you have a problem with pride, but if you have any insecurity in your life, think again. Don’t be so prideful you can’t even admit to having pride in your life! You can get free of both insecurity and pride by pursuing humility.

Kenneth Copeland is living proof. Here, he shares his testimony:
“I had so much low self-esteem in me, and I covered it with pride and ego. On the inside, I’m telling you, I was hurtin’.

“And after I got born again, particularly the first five or six years, I didn’t know enough about the Word of God. I didn’t know God loved me. Oh, I could quote, ‘For God so loved the world,’ but it wasn’t personal.

“I hadn’t believed the love. I’d experienced a little bit of it ’cause I got born again. But I hadn’t believed it, and it hadn’t become an intimate thing to me. That’s why it was easy for the devil to push me around.”

Kenneth was healed and delivered from insecurity and pride. He wants you to experience the same freedom. Here’s his advice to you:

“There is such a problem with low self-esteem. Well, that’s what you get when self becomes your esteem. You’re trying to esteem the wrong one. Forget yourself. Amen. It’s not about you.

“Quit looking at yourself through the way you feel, and begin to look at you through Jesus’ eyes. He said, ‘I died for you, my brother, my sister. I gave My life for you. You’ve been reborn. Old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. And all things are of God. I know you messed up, and I shed My blood for you. Now, you repent and judge yourself for it, and let’s get back in here and get at it again.’”

Watch Gloria Copeland and Pastor George Pearsons teach you why humility is a prerequisite for promotion.

4. Let God Dig Around in Your Heart

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” –Psalm 147:3 (NIV)

Maybe it seems like we’ve already done some digging around thus far, but this is different.

Here’s the trouble with insecurity—it only lets God come in so far. Then, it decides it has done enough, and all that’s left must be that pesky devil. Yes. The devil is a factor, but he isn’t the only one with responsibility here.
If you really want to be delivered from insecurity—to be healed of the hurts that caused it in the first place—you’ll do what you don’t want to do, and let God dig around in your heart.

What is He digging for? The root. And pulling a big, old root tears up the ground around it for a bit. That’s the not-so-fun part of the process. But without it, you’ll remain stuck in neutral. True deliverance comes from letting God find those tender places no one else can—even you—and do what only He can.

(Learn how to be led by the Spirit of God HERE).

When you learn how to overcome insecurity and low self-esteem with God’s help, you are on your way to freedom! Don’t be afraid. Trust His process. Trust His love for you. Trust that His will for you is freedom, joy, peace and abundance. When you follow this plan, you can experience the healing and deliverance from insecurity you never thought possible. Don’t remain in this prison any longer. Receive your deliverance and go free!

Watch Kenneth and Gloria Copeland teach you why fear opens the door to the devil.