Overcoming Self-Doubt with Jesus

Have you ever made a decision and then days later find yourself second guessing that decision? Maybe you decided to make a career move and now you are feeling discouraged because it’s not coming so easy. Self-doubt can be responsible for robbing us of our joy, our motivation, and even our commitment. It’s easy to commit to things when you are feeling confident, but what about when that self-doubt creeps back in? I know too many times in my life I have decided to quit or not pursue something because I have doubted myself. When I felt this self-doubt in the past, I thought maybe this is God telling me I shouldn’t pursue this. I only recently found out that this is not the case. God will not fill your heart or mind with doubt. In fact, the bible tells us to “fear not” 365 times. Once for each day of the year.

Now there will be times when God is telling you to stop or not proceed with something. This will occur when the decision or thing you desire is sinful. If the thing or action you are pursuing leaves you in constant turmoil and allows no room for peace, then it is not from God. But do not let the Devil trick you into doubting yourself. I doubted myself before a job interview and thought “maybe this is a sign I shouldn’t pursue this” when really it was the Devil attacking my weakness. He knew in that time in my life I had low self-confidence, and he was using my mind against me. You see, the devil doesn’t just try to entice us to commit the obvious sins like lust, or anger. He knows what our biggest weaknesses are and he will use those against us.

So how do we combat self-doubt?

First, we must understand where the self-doubt and lack of confidence originates.

“If you grew up in an extremely critical environment (parents or teachers) or went through traumatic events in your childhood. You may have a hard time believing in yourself again or may have difficulty trusting yourself. ” — BetterHealth.gov

If you grew up in an undesirable environment and that didn’t nurture your self-confidence. Your biggest enemy is going to be self-doubt. You are going to have to relearn or “reparent” yourself. Not just once. But over and over again. Anytime something challenges you, that self-doubt is going to creep up again and give you all the reasons why you can’t or should not do something.

Building up your self-confidence is key to overcome this. Self-doubt is a direct line from lack of self-confidence. If you do not think you or your abilities are “good enough” then you are going to face doubt. Self-confidence is built from an undeniable stack of proof that says you do what you say you are going to do. You work out when you say you will. You achieve the goals that you set for yourself.

If creating self-confidence and following through with your actions is completely new to you, then start with something simple. Make your bed every single day. It sounds silly, but it works. This is an easy goal and will prove to you that you can do what you say you will do.

This is where I started two years ago, and I have never missed a day making my bed since. Once you have made that a habit then set another goal for yourself, and another goal, and so on. Keep creating goals or tasks to complete. In 6 months, you’ll find yourself keeping promises to yourself that you never thought you could. This is how self-confidence is created. Keeping promises to yourself.

Once you have an undeniable stack of proof that you do what you say, write them down. Write down everything that you thought you could not do or felt impossible. You need to visually see all that you have accomplished. My list was titled “Things I didn’t think I could do”. Some of the things on my list included: Go to college, graduate from college, get and internship, give a speech without my voice shaking, stay consistent in the gym, learn to count macros, get an apartment on my own, be okay sleeping alone and many more. Seeing my accomplishments written down on paper helped me overcome that next thing that felt “impossible”. My undeniable stack of proof. Once you have this it makes overcoming self-doubt much easier.

Trying something new or making a life altering decision can be scary. It’s foreign ground and you’ve never been here before. Your mind does not like things that are uncomfortable and anything “new” is going to be seen as uncomfortable in your brain. But remember you are a beginner just like you were when you started making your bed everyday. At the start it’s okay to be bad at something, but it’s important to give yourself grace to grow and learn.

Self-doubt is a part of life. There are going to be times when we feel more confident than others. When that self-doubt starts creeping back up again, I encourage you to write. Write out every single thing that comes to your mind when you are doubting yourself. Get these thoughts out of your head and onto paper. Actually, seeing it, and seeing how small these doubts are will give you a new perspective. These doubts are lies that the Devil feeds you to rob you of your dreams and God’s plan for you. Don’t let the Devil trick you into believing them.

Remember where we fall short in our abilities is where God finishes the rest. God will never open a door for us that we are not equipped to walk into. Proverbs 3:5 says to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. You may not understand how you will accomplish or overcome something, but that is not for you to figure out. God has made a way all you have to do is trust him and submit to him.

I’ll leave you with my favorite scripture. I read this anytime I feel discouraged or confused. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans for a hope and a future”.