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Insecurity According to the Evil Queen
A Lesson from ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’

By Brittney Perez

Insecurities. We all have them.

Some of us are insecure about our appearance. We think we’re overweight or too thin. We don’t like certain features about ourselves. We don’t like our hair, nose, teeth, skin, etc. Some of us struggle with insecurity about how we are perceived by others. “If I say this, that person will think I’m weird.” “That was a dumb thing to say. I’m not going to say anything else.”

We want to be liked, we want to say and do the right things; we’re insecure about standing out or even not standing out. Regardless of the insecurities you find yourself personally experiencing, they don’t define you and the value of your life.

When it comes to our insecurities, sometimes we don’t see just how much impact they can have over us and if we’re not careful, our insecurities may not just affect us, but those around us as well. In the Disney movie, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” one of the main characters (The Evil Queen) has insecurities of her own. She desires to look and be the best. One of the things the queen does to reassure herself of these desires is asking her magic mirror regularly who is the “fairest of them all.” One day when the queen asks her magic mirror, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?,” she gets an answer she was not used to getting. Instead of hearing her own name, she hears the name of her stepdaughter, Snow White.

Snow White is now the “fairest of them all.” In that moment, it’s as if the queen’s whole world was shattered and she goes into this fit of rage. As the movie progresses, the queen seeks to have Snow White killed. Sounds pretty extreme, doesn’t it?

In our lives sometimes, we can allow our own personal insecurities affect our attitude and how we view ourselves and those around us. Just like the queen in Snow White, we can let our insecurities overcome us. Now, you might be thinking, “Okay, so I have some insecurities, but I’ve never sought to have someone killed!” Sometimes we may feel we have a handle on our thoughts and our insecurities, and sometimes we don’t see our insecurities and how they affect us and subconsciously those around us.

Let’s use an example. Let’s say you’re insecure about your looks. You don’t feel like you’re attractive and you have a friend who people think is really attractive. This person is a good friend and is part of your close circle of friends. Depending on your insecurities and their depth, you may find yourself at times consciously or subconsciously not inviting this friend out with you because of your own insecurity with feeling like you are not attractive and this friend makes you feel that insecurity even more.

Now is this friend at fault because of your insecurity? No. They haven’t done anything wrong at all. This is an example of letting your insecurity affect how you view others and what’s crazy is you might not even be aware of it!! That is why it’s important to be able to identify your insecurities.

Now just to clarify, it’s not a sign of weakness to admit you struggle with insecurity. Everyone has insecurities. In fact the opposite is true, once you can pinpoint what your insecurity or insecurities are you can begin to expose it for what it is with the help of God (Luke 8:17). If we can’t first pinpoint or identify our insecurities, we won’t seek to overcome them because we won’t see anything to overcome.

In order to try and overcome our insecurities, with God’s help, we first need to recognize what that insecurity it is. In order to do this, you need to take a close look at your heart and mind, which may not always be easy to do. Sometimes, we don’t like to look within ourselves because we KNOW we’re messy and we may be afraid of what we’ll find as we are self-evaluating ourselves. It just seems so much easier to not dig too deep, but the truth is if we don’t do that digging we may not begin the process toward healing and freedom from our insecurities. It may be uncomfortable at first, but it will be worth it. No great thing has ever been accomplished without putting in the work. God is with you; you are not alone.

One thing I want to stress is that God is a great revealer. Ask God to reveal and expose the deepest parts of who you are, holding nothing back. Again, it may be difficult because naturally we don’t like to look at the nasty stuff lurking in our hearts, but once those sources of your insecurities are revealed then you can begin the battle of fighting those insecurities with God’s help (2 Chronicles 20:17).

As God begins to reveal to you what you need to see, you will then be able to hand those things over to Him in prayer. God is the lifter of our burdens (Psalm 68:19). He isn’t afraid of our sin and frailty. Ask God to reveal to you what needs to be revealed, to renew your heart and mind, and to teach you by the power of His Word the way you should go. As you begin to seek after God and give over to Him your insecurities, you will begin to see Him change the way you think.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the  renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

– Romans 12:2