Moore - So long, insecurity: youve been a bad friend to us

So Long, Insecurity

youve been a bad friend to us

by

Beth Moore

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Carol Stream, Illinois

Visit Tyndales exciting Web site at www.tyndale.com.

Visit Living Proofs Web site at www.LProof.org.

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So Long, Insecurity: Youve Been a Bad Friend to Us

Copyright 2010 by Beth Moore. All rights reserved.

Cover photo of Beth Moore by Stephen Vosloo copyright by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cover background photo copyright by Ivan Stevanovic/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.

Designed by Jacqueline L. Nuez

Published in association with Yates & Yates (www.yates2.com).

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible , New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NKJV is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from The Holy Bible , King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version. Copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NCV is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Moore, Beth, date.

So long, insecurity : youve been a bad friend to us / Beth Moore.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

ISBN 978-1-4143-3472-1 (hc)

1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. Security (Psychology) 3. Trust in GodChristianity.

I. Title.

BV4527.M624 2010

248.8'43dc22 2009042432

For Annabeth

Acknowledgments

I have never had so many people to thank at the end of a writing project. Over a thousand men and women contributed to this message, and if youre one of them, my words of gratitude will fail to convey my heart and how humbled I am by your willing investment. I pray God will wildly bless your efforts through a harvest of women who stumble on the book providentially and find the freedom they yearn for.

To my beloved online community I affectionately call the Siestas Girls, this book exists because of your input and the courage you gave me to write it. You will recognize yourselves all over it. Wait till you see chapter 7. It is you from beginning to end. I love you like crazy. You are a huge part of my journey and my picture window to a big world. May Jesus continue to be your prize.

To the more than 150 men who invested in the guys survey Your perspective turned out to be one of the most important junctures in the journey. Pure gold. Thank you so much for letting me quote you and for even letting me pick on you a bit. You were fabulous. By the way, so many of you asked what you could do to make insecurity a smaller issue for your wives and daughters. I smiled every time and thought to myself, If you had the insight to ask the question, you were not part of the problem. I respect you so much. Thank you again.

To my Monday night TMA girls I had such a blast with you. Thank you for bringing insight from your young generation to an issue that will undoubtedly only escalate. Keep gathering the courage to be the women of God we talked about!

To my friends Poor things. This was a dangerous time to be my running buddies. Thank you for telling me things you had to wonder later if Id share in print. Rest assured, I did, but dont worry. Either I didnt use your name or I changed it. Im throwing back my head and laughing. You might as well too. It helps calm the nerves.

To my second family, my staff at Living Proof Ministries You are the dearest people on earth to me outside my immediate family. I absolutely adore you. Thank you for all the deep conversations over lunch about this topic and for acting once again like you could hardly wait to get the new book in your hands. I am not worthy of you. I love you and cannot imagine my life without you.

To Sealy and Curtis and the entire staff of Yates and Yates Thank you for being people I can trust. Thank you for being the very first to catch the vision and for doing everything you could to give it wings. The best part is that you didnt do it because you believed in me but because you believe in Jesus. Thank God He can use anybody, or you and I would never have crossed paths. You are gifts of His mercy to me.

To the Tyndale team Mark Taylor, I have so much respect for you and your heritage. I am honored to partner with you, sir. Thank you for taking this chance on me. Ron Beers, you are honestly one of the most gracious men Ive ever encountered. I bet the women in your life dont struggle with a ton of insecurity. Jan Stob, you were one of the first women to read the manuscript, and I was relieved almost to tears because I could tell you got it. Sometimes Im such a needy, fragmented person that I wonder if Ive written a whole book to myself. You made me know that this one was at least written to two of us. Jackie Nuez and Stephen Vosloo, I loved working with you guys! Thank you so much for coming to Houston and for making me smile till my cheeks were honestly sore. I had more wrinkles when you left than when you came. Maria Erikson, I am so grateful for your attentiveness to every detail and for not letting up on the questions until you understood the audience. Your professional intensity never left me wondering whether or not you were doing your job. Stephanie Voiland, thank you so much for your hard work on copyediting. How many times did you wonder why I couldnt say it simpler?

To Lisa Jackson You are an integral part of the Tyndale team but worthy of singling out in this project. As this message began to take shape on paper, I knew the editor would have to be a woman. God knew the editor would have to be you. I loved every minute of working with you. You have an uncanny way of always being available but never intrusive. No small feat. I will long remember the day we spent together knocking out every single edit and without a single awkward moment. How about that? You treated the manuscript with dignity. You won my heart as an editor, as a fellow mom, and as a sister trying to navigate the shark-infested waters of this culture. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Ive written all the other acknowledgments with teeming joy, but as I come to the remaining few, I do so with tears stinging my eyes.

To my wonderful daughters, Amanda and Melissa Nothing on this earth fulfills me like learning and processing and serving alongside the two of you. I respect no ones opinion more than yours. I have no greater proof of Gods grace in my life than the two of you. No one makes me think or laugh or pray or spend like you do. You are used of God to continually keep me connected with a generation of women, not coincidentally, young enough to be my daughters. Words dont exist to tell you how much you mean to me.