I’ve always wondered, why is it that every person’s brain exactly the same but their level of thinking is so different? Why do some people achieve greater things and others simply don’t? There might be several theories to answer these questions. But what I believe makes this huge division is the fear of failure.

I’ve had a lot of days when I didn’t try new things because I was scared. It might not be a big phobia, like the fear of height because I dreaded the thought of something pushing me over, and killing me. Rather, most of the time, this fear manifested in the simplest things such as playing sports or even a new video game. It might sound silly but everything starts small. Yet it never stops there. This fear grows. After a while, whenever I planned on trying something new, that little voice inside telling me, “Don’t do it! What if you fail?” appeared to not be so little. It got to a point where this voice had full dominion over my thoughts that I had forgotten my potential.

Why does this fear get to sabotage our chances of success? I got to thinking. My fear of failure has a lot to do with my past shameful experiences. Shame is a huge psychologically toxic emotion that gets to the core of egos, identities and self-esteem. It made me question several things; how capable I was of doing something, people’s expectations of me and even God’s ability. I started to worry too much about disappointing people. The funny thing was, I was not only worrying about the people I cared about like my family and friends, but also people I didn’t know. Suddenly, their opinions mattered too. I did not like the fact that my fear was so obvious to people so I came up with a solution. I stopped dreaming big and aiming high. How could I possibly fail if I wasn’t really working towards anything? I had believed that if I tried again, I wouldn’t do any better than the last time. Undermining myself became second nature. Then, once I had lowered my expectations for myself, I somehow found a way to lessen other people’s expectations as well.

Fear kept me from embracing who I really am in Christ, victorious. It is understandable for people to fear failure because of their un-sure futures. But I, the child of God, differ in this because my end is not a mystery. I already know it. My problems and struggles have already been defeated. I am the beloved of the most high. He will never let me down. The same God who created the heavens, the stars and the earth is my father and my best friend. He actually dwells in me. The spirit of fear doesn’t rule. Yet love and security abide.

As soon as I realized this, my whole life turned 180 degrees. I started to denounce all the negatives I had said over my life and started to declare truth. I am victorious. My promise is sure. I matter to this world; I make a big difference.

For so long I had been tricked by a silly voice in my head; the devil’s lies. I had forgotten whose I was. I am the daughter of a holy, perfect, majestic, everlasting, powerful, loving God. Why should I fear?

“Do not fear!” is written 365 times in the bible. One for each day! God is not a man that He shall lie. Behold the truth; fear is just a deceit. You are victorious!