Through many years as a Christian I've heard people counseling others with the statement, "The root of all insecurity is pride." Lately I've been thinking a lot about this, and even though at times I seem to agree, I don't fully understand it. What are your thoughts? --Silvia
I do agree that pride, which can lead us to want to look good and insecurely hold back if we are afraid of failure, is at the root of much insecurity. But not always. At least, I know of no scripture that teaches this.
Sometimes we are insecure by conditioning. If we are told "You're stupid" or "You'll never amount to anything" often enough, we can end up trying to vindicate ourselves, anxiously reacting--or worse, even believing it! In that case, this isn't really pride. It may have become an involuntary response, as with the salivating dogs of Pavlov. But pride?
At other times we may be insecure because we know we are not prepared. If I were asked at five minutes' notice to deliver a lecture on Quantum Physics, I would be--and should be--"insecure," since this is not my field and it would be mere presumption (or even arrogance) for me to attempt to it.
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