For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. [Philippians 4:13]

QUOTE: Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times (Martin Luther).

Is it possible that we could be relying on ourselves too much?

As I’ve been sharing a portion of my story, I was shattered and totally lost my self-confidence when all the biscuits hit the fan. This journey of regaining my confidence is what this book is founded on because self-confidence can be shattered and broken whereas God-confidence is rock solid and permanent.  I was trying to build my business, my life, and everything else in my power, based on my strength and my self-confidence. Therefore, when there was nothing left, I became completely devastated.

We live in a world today that is self-centered. It’s all about “what’s in it for me,” from selfies to selfish behaviors, to self-indulgence, to self-first, and it’s all about “me, me, me.” Our culture is constantly teaching people to be more “self” confident, “self” empowered but in this book, my encouragement is that you become GOD CONFIDENT.

I’m not saying that self-confidence isn’t valid or important, because it is. However, I want to stress the fact of where our true power really comes from, which is the Holy Spirit. A particular Scripture that I’m sure you are familiar with and probably know by heart is: I can do all this through him who gives me strength; I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me Philippians 4:13: The question is, do you truly live by this?

This verse does not say, I can do all things with my own strength, I can do anything with self-confidence, I can do all things by myself. No, it says “I can do all things through Jesus who gives me strength.” This is God Confidence. There is a huge difference between what we can do alone and what God can do through us. For those of you who have tried it this way, you know what I’m talking about!

I’m a visual person so again I’ve created another chart that provides a comparison of Self-confidence vs. God-confidence.

Self-Confidence vs. God-Confidence

Self Confidence	God Confidence
Comes from within us	Comes from God working through us
Trusting in our own ability to handle people and circumstances	Trusting in God’s ability to work through us to serve people and work through circumstances.
Based on constant changing roller coaster emotions and feelings	Based on God being immutable, rock solid, unchanging over time, fixed, grounded, unchangeable.
Based on pride and arrogance	Based on KNOWING God can work through us; and we are then free from pride and arrogance.
Focused on temporal results	Focused on eternal rewards
Attempting to accomplish great things according to the world’s standards	Allowing God to accomplish great things according to His standards.
Desire to receive the applause and approval of other people	Desire to hear the words well done good and faithful servant from God
Increases from us completing particular tasks or activities	Increases believing God’s Word and  trusting HIM
Confidence in our own judgment, ability, and power	Trust ONLY in God’s judgment, ability, and power
Secure in yourself and your abilities	Secure in the gifts and talents that God has given
A positive belief that in the future one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do	The truth is that God has given us specific promises for trusting in Him
Trust in one’s ability to achieve some goal.	Trust that God has already given us the ability to achieve whatever goal He wants us to achieve
Showing poise and confidence in your worth	Knowing that YOU ARE WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE

Please note that there is also a need of having a balanced view of self-confidence in order for us to develop God-confidence. A balanced view is knowing that our true confidence comes from the Lord, not from ourselves. Unfortunately, if you have a low view about yourself, you may not believe what God says about you, or have confidence that God cares about you. So, without some level of self-confidence you possibly may not understand the power of God-confidence and may not even seek this out, which becomes a vicious cycle unto itself.

On the flip side, if we have a self-righteous attitude or too high view of ourselves and place too much confidence in our own abilities and judgments, then we may think we have no need for God. Well, then again, this is another vicious cycle of pride and arrogance that will eventually come back to bite us.

GOD CONFIDENCE VS. SELF CONFIDENCE: Sometimes we can be blinded (even as believers) by our own ambitions and desire to reach our goals. We may not even realize we are doing things based on our self-confidence and our own desires. I believe we should strive for a harmonious balance of self-confidence along with tapping into the real power that comes from God-Confidence. We can do this by keeping our Holy Appointment and by being willing to listen and walk guided by the Holy Spirit vs our own thinking and desires.

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Daily Action Step
Say to yourself out loud
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM

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FRIENDLY REMINDER: take out your journal and write down your thoughts, takeaways, and progress for this week!

TAKEAWAY GEMS

• There is so much more power in God-confidence than in self-confidence.
• See chart God confidence vs. self-confidence.
• God-confidence is everlasting, where self-confidence is based on life events and circumstances.

QUESTIONS TO “THINK ON”

1. What do you see as the biggest differences between self-confidence and God-confidence?
2. What areas in your life could you implement more God-confidence and get rid of that arrogant the self-confidence?
3. What would change in your life if you exercised more God-confidence?

ACTION STEP

EMBRACE GOD CONFIDENCE: Write down something that would only take God confidence God has prompted you to do. Once you have written it down, take action, take the next step in faith.

WEEKLY SCRIPTURES

DAY 1: God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” [Exodus 3:14]

DAY 2: This is what the Lord says: Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land [Jeremiah 17:5-8]

DAY 3: For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. [Philippians 4:13]

DAY 4: You need not be afraid of sudden disaster wicked, for the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. [Proverbs 3:25-26] 

DAY 5: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety [Psalm 18:2]

DAY 6: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing. [Psalm 143:10]

DAY 7: I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. [Romans 15:13]