Here’s a quote I recently read: It said, “With every act of self-care your authentic self gets stronger, and the critical, fearful mind gets weaker. Every act of self-care is a powerful declaration: I am on my side, I am on my side. “The world has us focusing so much on ourselves. Self-reliance, self-care, self-confidence, self-awareness, and the list could go on. We are searching for fulfillment and we think we can find it in ourselves. All we will likely find is the mantra “I am on my side” with little to show for it. What is the best form of self-care we can give ourselves? Preparing for eternity. Culture tells us we need to be “authentic” and “stronger” and “less fearful.” These are all good attributes, but when done from a temporal and not eternal perspective it amounts to little more than what the Bible calls vanity. Being on our own side doesn’t eliminate fear. We are fallible. We mess up, say the wrong thing, make the wrong choice. Fear thrives in uncertainty and we are uncertain, unreliable beings.Only if God is on our side can we leave fear behind! He has the future already figured out. And if you choose to trust that “God is on my side” you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of what He has in store.

By Sara Broyhill Anderson