Self-Sabotage

Self-Sabotage
 
© 2021 Dr. Samaria M Colbert
 
Sabotage means to deliberately destroy, or damage, it means to obstruct something that was meant to give you an advantage. It also means to wreck, vandalism, destruction, and disruption.
 
Lisa Jeffs defines self-sabotage as “when we actively or passively take steps to prevent ourselves from reaching our goals.”
 
Self-sabotage is the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately so that it doesn’t work correctly. There are times that we must be honest with ourselves and say we are our own worst enemy.
 
When you self-sabotage you are actively committed to your own failure and demise through intentional passive means. Self-sabotage is similar to imposter syndrome, the difference is that with imposter syndrome you may have the feeling of inadequacy, but you still move forward. When you self-sabotage you are committed to not moving forward and you actively regress.
 
When an individual self-sabotages they are actively committed to their own failure and demise through intentional passive means.
 
Why do people self-sabotage?
 
They have an unhealthy view of self, low confidence, and feelings of worthlessness. You will never achieve what’s in your potential when you don’t have a healthy view of yourself.
 
Past fears and trauma. The trauma brain remembers what happened in the past, and wants to avoid future pain. So, they self-sabotage to avoid a future that hasn’t happened yet.
 
No faith. Remember to achieve you must have faith in God’s ability and what he can and will do through you.
 
Self-hatred
 
Self-hatred is really rooted in self rejection. If you don’t like yourself, you’ll sabotage your own efforts.
 
Disobedience.
 
It may sound odd that disobedience is a form of self-sabotage, but it is.
 
You have a grasshopper mentality.
 
In Numbers 13:33 The people of Israel refused to go into the land God promised them, they said “we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we were in their eyes.”  When you self-sabotage it has more to do with how you see yourself not how other’s see you.
 
You are relying on your own strength, instead of God.
 
Your identity is not found in Christ. Remember fathers provide, protect and give identity. When you self-sabotage you are not secure about who God has called and identified you to be.
 
How do we move forward from self-sabotage?
 
Don’t ignore it, denial won’t walk you into healing and freedom.
 
You must recognize patterns of self-sabotage in your life. Therapy, inner healing strategy will help to uproot the cause of self-sabotage. Remember self-sabotage is really rooted in a deep sense of self hatred. Therapy helps to identify the root and pull it out.
 
You must also acknowledge the wounds in your heart before the father. Remember as you begin the process of allowing God to heal your wounds, he will give you a divine exchange. He will exchange beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise instead of despair. When you exchange something, you give them something and in return they give you something of equal or lesser value. So when you exchange with God, you give him your pain, he responds by giving you his joy.
 
Remember perfect love cast out fear according to I John 4:18. So if perfect love cast out fear, it also cast out self-sabotage that is rooted in fear.
 
Finally, I want to tell you about Gideon. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiezrite clan in the tribe of Manasseh. The people of Israel had rebelled against God. God had warned them prior that if they rebelled, he would hand them over to their enemy. The Midianites were the enemy. They had the people of Israel in hiding. They would do things like take all their crops, livestock and anything used for economy, so the people of Israel were left hungry.
 
Gideon was in the winepress in hiding pressing wheat. Gideon, is considered weak, fearful and a coward. The angel of the Lord brings him a message. He begins the message by saying, “Gideon you mighty man of valor.” Valor means great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle.
 
The point is how you see yourself and how God sees you is not the same. Gideon has this discourse with the angel of the Lord. He finally agrees to the assignment. During the discussion Gideon had concerns about his strength to do the job. In Judges 6:14 God responds by saying, “Go in the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites, I am sending you.”
 
The point is God sees you as a mighty man or woman of valor. You already have the strength and ability you need to move forward into the assignment. Don’t let self sabotage cause you to move from a place God has placed you.
 
You are already mighty and you have the victory.
 
© 2021 Dr. Samaria M Colbert