It takes courage and bravery to say what’s on your mind these days. With every other person getting canceled nowadays, you may hesitate and filter how you’re expressing yourself in certain circumstances. But I am here to tell you, don’t do that. Because if we do, we take away your secret weapon to kick-start your confidence as single moms.
I can hear the song from Charles Wright blasting in my ear… Express Yourself!
Or, if you’re gangsta like me (in my head, of course), the version from NWA.
These songs give me a boost of grit every time I hear them. But at the same time, we must be careful not to become extreme and end up with a toxic motive for expressing ourselves. Many of us speak out of emotion and sometimes do more damage than we plan to. But we will never know unless we speak up at all.
God and Expression
As a young girl with many thoughts running through my head, I tried to stuff in every emotion I wanted to say because I didn’t want to offend anyone or feel rejected because of my quirkiness. But something about getting older and having an intimate relationship with God makes those fears and anxieties melt away. You gain wisdom on what it means to express yourself adequately and learn what not to do when you read Proverbs 18.
However, growing in courage with God is the critical confidence builder we need to get to the place of ‘free’ expression that we desire as single moms.
Courage to Express Yourself
I wrote a blog post a while back where I shared some excellent Bible verses to remind you of the courage already inside you and the importance of having it. So if you need a quick reminder, check it out here.
But the truth is that you can’t have confidence without courage first, which means confidence is sure to follow once you walk in courage. So this is your wake-up call, single moms, to have the courage to:
- Love yourself properly
- Share your needs and desire
- Ask for that raise on your job
- Let your coworker know they mean a lot to you
- Start a friendship with that guy or girl
- Admit to your kids when you are wrong or share your story.
- To follow Jesus with all your being
- Stop living a life for other people’s approval and acceptance.
You already know what you need to do. But do you genuinely understand what courage is?
Courage To Confidence
According to Webster,
Courage is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.
But how do you gain mental and moral strength? Why does it seem like my courage fluctuates?
Well, your courage is rooted in inconsistent principles of what it truly is. Clarity wards off inconsistency.
You can find the best source for mental and moral strength in the bible, which is full of wisdom and encouragement in this area. You can also receive support from adjuncts such as a therapist, counseling, and life coaching if needed.
But if you check with the Source, the Lord commands you to be courageous nearly 114 times. And we struggle to do 1 thing asked of us. Why do we struggle? Because the Lord knew fear would stand in the way of us being our best selves and muzzle our ability to express ourselves and share the gospel.
The most popular scripture we know when it comes to courage is:
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
But if you take some time to gain insight from bible stories, you will see where having the courage to express yourself did well by saving people or changing the trajectory of their own life. Check out those below who are an example of courage and confidence building in the bible:
- Moses
- Esther
- David
- Daniel
Despite our challenges with life’s difficulties and fear, we grow stronger and learn what we need to grow with each act of courage every time we speak up. For this reason, I share with you why expressing yourself is the ultimate starting point to growing in confidence, single moms.
3 Reasons Why You Should Start Expressing Yourself Today
Expressing yourself doesn’t cost anything.
You already have your mind and mouth free of charge. Expressing yourself costs you nothing. An excellent start-up option without pressure. When you open your mouth, power, life, or death emerge. From history, we know that keeping things bottled up leads to nothing but an emotional explosion.
But don’t get me wrong, speaking up may ruffle feathers. Anyone who is not supportive of your growth was never meant to be in your life. They benefited from your lack of confidence, so keep that in mind. You will lose some, but know that God will give you double for the trouble.
It’s a great way to get you to pay attention to yourself.
Your mouth and words can open a gateway to both good and evil. It often gives you a sneak peek into your thoughts and what’s in your heart. Gives you time to pay attention, reflect, uproot, and get rooted in the true identity and thought life consistent with who you are and are created to be. When you start to pay attention to yourself, you begin to love yourself, date yourself, and enjoy being yourself, which grows your confidence tremendously.
It’s a mighty weapon to defeat the fear-based struggles in your life.
As women, a lot of things were are dealing with mentally and emotionally are based on fear. Depression, anxiety, attention deficits, insomnia, suicide, and sexual addictions: are all based on some form of fear. There are so many others, but each attacks one or two areas: your mind or your morals, and uses fear to do the dirty work to get you trapped. But speaking out and expressing your emotions, experiences, etc., have been seen to drastically reduce the effects of fear on a person’s life. When you step out and speak out, there is no heaviness or uneasiness to hold on to, embody, or store, making you strong enough to show up confidently.
All in all,
These are my reasons why you should start or continue to work on expressing yourself. There is so much freedom when you do. But true freedom is freeing others with your stories about how God healed you and how Jesus helped you to show up in the world with courage and confidence.
Need support with expressing yourself?
Here are some other blog posts to support your journey as well:
- Ask For What You Want
- Give Yourself Grace: 3 Reasons Why There’s Nothing Wrong With You!
- 10 Bible Verses On Courage For Women
- 25 Confidence-Building Songs That Make You Feel Unstoppable
You can also join the Women Seeking Confidence Facebook group for a community of women headed in the same direction as you in regards to growing in relationships:
