Timidness
“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little course, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.” -Ralph Waldo Emmerson.
People who are overly timid, timid to the point that they miss windows of opportunities that opened before them, have a flawed view of themselves. They think people are watching their every move and gesture, looking for opportunities to criticize and devalue them. The truth is, people just aren’t looking that closely.
It has been said that one of the greatest fears people have is the fear of public speaking. Having been a public speaker for many years, I know first hand that when I speak, people are either interested, or not interested, in what I have to say, but they really aren’t all that interested in me, personally. That’s not to say that people don’t care about the person speaking. They may grow to love or despise the speaker, but it will be based on what he has to say 99% of the time.
Timidity is really a form of pride, and it is exceedingly sinful. It is a manifestation of thinking more highly of yourself than you ought to think. You are so concerned with self that you dare not make yourself vulnerable by speaking out. Consider the following steps for overcoming timidity:
1. Learn to laugh at yourself, then forget it. Everybody who ever speaks out will sooner or later make a blunder, or maybe a whole series of blunders. So what? Better to strike out than to have never got up to bat!
2. Concentrate on your message more than your manner. Once you learn to relax and say it, you will say it far better.
3. Believe God’s word. Second Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear…” That word fear is actually the word, “timidity.” (Look it up, if you don’t believe me.) The reason God doesn’t want you to be timid is because He has given you the authority and responsibility to be His witness.
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