By Lauren Makenzie
Disclaimer: This is for educational purposes, not an expert diagnosis on the topic or medical instruction.
A topic that should be discussed more in the Christian community is how a lot of Christians struggle with Imposter Syndrome. It hides behind other thoughts and struggles, making it a rare conversation when it comes to why people do things the way they do.
Our faith in Jesus doesn't give us Imposter Syndrome. For those who do struggle with this, it can be easy to put all of the blame on ourselves.
What is Imposter Syndrome doing to Christians? What does God say in His word to help us?
I've spent a lot of my life thinking I'm slowly getting worse as a Christian. I compare my relationship with God now to when I was fifteen years old, I compare my quiet time yesterday with last week, I scrutinize my levels of prayer and reading, always having to live up to the expectations in my mind to be good enough.
It wasn't until I was reading a journal prompt from a few years ago when I noticed that I was criticizing myself in the same ways that I do now. I realized it wasn't completely my fault, nor should I focus so hard on myself like I have been, in this sense.
With Imposter Syndrome, we can negatively and falsely view ourselves in ways we don't need to. In ways we shouldn't.
How to know if you struggle with Imposter Syndrome
Imposter Syndrome can be defined basically as the "psychological pattern of doubting one's accomplishments and fearing being exposed as a fraud."
Some things that Christians with Imposter Syndrome might believe are:
I don't fit in here.
I'm not good enough.
I mess up more than other Christians.
God can't use me like he can use others.
I'm not doing good enough for God.
I have to make sure that I never mess up.
I have to show God that I'm strong.
I can't ask God for things, but others can.
If you're constantly feeling less than others, continually overwork yourself physically, mentally, or both to prove your perfection, and feel like God is mad at you or he likes others better due to their strengths and performance, this could be something that you struggle with.
The thoughts can be believed to be true, as they can hide behind things like anxiety and/or comparison. The bar will always be higher than we can reach. We will never earn God's approval, no matter how much we do for him. We try to appear better than we are. We're scared that someone will see us make one mistake because we have to uphold strength and perfection.
If we don't do that, we aren't honoring God... or so we think.
In the book of Romans, there were a lot of false beliefs that Paul had to tear down, one of the most prominent beliefs being a work-based religion to earn God and to make it to heaven. Basically, the Romans punished and ignored those who didn't look or act like their picture of righteousness (even after only one or two mistakes), and they praised and acknowledged the people that seemed perfect in their eyes. These people would get into others heads, claiming that God would punish them like they would if they even inwardly made a mistake.
This is very similar to how Christians struggling with Imposter Syndrome reflect onto themselves, because we're terrified of not being good enough and being seen as a fake. But the truth is, we delight in seeing others being set free, yet part of us is staying locked down onto these lies and overbearing expectations.
We view our spiritual lives for eternity as salvaged by Jesus, but it's seldomly realized (at least by me) that I am still reflecting condemnation and performance based beliefs onto myself every day in all of the little things (emotional/mental/social).
Helpful things I've learned as a Christian struggling with Imposter Syndrome
Validate your emotions and false beliefs, but don't live in them.
For some reason, the main two ways that people go about emotions are to either dismiss them entirely or to validate them to the point that they never change their bad behaviors, never growing and changing. There are more options than running from the reality of it and hopelessly staying in the reality of it.
If you struggle with Imposter Syndrome, don't run from it, but don't accept that you have to stay there.
Comparison, anxiousness, perfectionism, stress, and doubt are all involved in this. It's not helpful to deny that they're there in attempts to walking through Imposter Syndrome as a Christian or not.
There's this belief that Christians shouldn't have mental illnesses. That they should be perfect and strong all the time. That Christians don't know what mental illness is because of their faith. This is wrong.
A lot of Christians hide their mental illness because they look at themselves as even more defeated as a person due to this belief. I've hidden my anxiety and overthinking in attempts to not disappoint other Christians, and I've tried to wipe it off the board in two seconds so that God will be proud of me.
Friends, if you have this struggle, don't ignore the struggle! We're all human, and Christians are not perfect like Jesus. Jesus helps us become more like him, but he knows that we will all fall short- and he loves us unconditionally anyways.
"Cast all your cares on him, because he cares about you." (1 Peter 5:7)
2. God wants to free you from Imposter Syndrome; He wants you to live in the grace and salvation he freely gave you through Jesus!
Your struggle isn't too big for God. The lies swarming around in our heads are tough, but not true. The grace and salvation of our Lord through Jesus overcomes the perfectionism and condemnation we put ourselves through.
You are free in Jesus if you are saved. This makes you good enough. This makes you qualified by Jesus to walk in places you were too scared to before. This makes you grow in wisdom and strength to perform even better than before, and simultaneously be given rest by the Lord when your body or mind needs it. Jesus is the answer to our struggles with imposter syndrome.
3. Talk to God today!
The more we spend time with God, the more his goodness and love flows into us. The deeper your relationship is with the Lord, the less room these deadly thoughts and beliefs will have in your head and in your heart. They contradict Jesus and His word.
When Jesus redesigns the home of your heart, the Imposter Syndrome has to move out.
Things that have truly helped me grow closer to Jesus and further from Imposter Syndrome are:
Rest and meditation in Him
Gratefulness
Pausing and praying
My favorite worship songs throughout the day
Going to church
Reading nuggets of the Bible daily
The point is to make it sweet and short, how you personally would do it day by day, because we will try to make it long and almost tiring because we feel like we're not doing enough for the Lord if we don't read ten chapters a day and listen to five hours of worship music a day (trust me, I used to attempt this 24/7).
You are enough for the Lord because of Jesus' love for you.
4. Let God take control of the work
We like to handle all of the work. We want to be God's strongest soldier. We want to be perfect. Because if we're "perfect", then God won't feel as upset with us, and we won't be a burden. We'll look good to others so they won't be disappointed. We don't want to burden God, and that's one of the core beliefs of people of faith and with Imposter Syndrome.
But it's ok to take breaks. It's ok to operate at 50% some days, at 90% some days, and even on those 10% days we can still be used by God, and guess what, we're still loved by God. We're human, and Jesus provides the strength and help we need.
"I will strengthen you and help you." (Isaiah 41:10)
5. People pleasing was never a calling from the Lord.
Since people pleasing is a big aspect of Imposter Syndrome, as well as a struggle in my life, I had to speak on it, because the Lord never called me and you here. He never wanted us to please the whole world.
We're not called to be chameleons, changing for others constantly, but to be the light of the world.
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven." (Matthew 5:14)
If we try to measure up to others, our days will inevitably become solely performance based. Lets not conform to the world and what it might think about us. Let's think about what God thinks about us.
Conclusion
We're not perfect, and that's ok. We're broken in this world, and that's ok. The reason why it's ok is because we have Jesus. We no longer have to rely on ourselves for constant perfection and relentless strength.
We can lean on the Lord.
Amazon books!!
If you’re a visitor:
If you're a visitor to my blog, thank you for reading! I'm grateful for every person that reads my blog posts! I hope that this encouraged you, and if you would like to read more content about Jesus and the Bible, you can subscribe to my website at the top inbox section of the home page! Subscribers will get notifications the moment I post a blog post every Friday morning.
To my members!
Thank you for reading this week's post! I would love to hear your feedback! Feel free to drop any comments, preferences, or questions if you have any!
Just became a Christian?
If you're new to the whole "Christian" thing, I'd love to help you out with that! If you click here, you can receive a downloadable eBook with some of my tips on how to navigate being a Christian! I share some of the habits, resources, and bible verses that helped me grow as a Christian when I was newly saved!
I don't know who God is, but would like to know! Other posts on my Blog
Stay connected!
- My Pinterest account
- My Instagram account
- My Twitter account
Thank you for being here! May the Lord's peace be with you today! :)
Comentários