Merriam Webster has the following definitions for the word “confidence”:
1 a: a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances
b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way
2: the quality or state of being certain : CERTITUDE
I developed a severe lack of self-confidence during my early teen years, so I spent most of my young adult life with fairly low self-esteem. Even after getting saved and learning about God’s Word, I still thought that everyone was better than I – smarter, prettier, more talented, more spiritual, etc.
Having a low opinion of myself led me into a trap of putting myself down all the time and hoping that someone would disagree and tell me that it wasn’t true. But when that didn’t happen or happen enough, I began to believe that all those things about me must be true. I guess you could say that I brought it upon myself. But the mind is a funny thing. Sometimes without much coaxing, it can be swayed in a direction contrary to way that you want it to go.
In addition, I was afraid that if I said or even thought something good about myself, I would be a braggart. I had heard people brag about themselves and I had heard the criticism leveled against them when they did. I didn’t want people to criticize me, so I would never say anything that I thought could sound like bragging.
It wasn’t until my mid 30’s that I began to gain some self-confidence. I had gone through a devasting experience and had to make up my mind whether I was going to sink or swim. I decided to swim.
In the course of rising above my circumstances, I began to see that I was actually kind of smart. I learned to do a new job that involved writing official documents and bookkeeping, (two things that I didn’t think I could do) and I excelled. That was the beginning of my transition. Then as I continued to change my mind about myself, other things started to change for me too. I began to have some self-confidence.
Feeling poorly about myself all those years didn’t change overnight. It took a determined application of positive thoughts, which took time. And as these things usually go, I would do well for a while, then fall back into the old thinking. Then I’d fight to get back to the positive thinking and be okay for a while, then fall back… and so on. Even now, I have to refute those old thoughts from time to time.
Now, you may ask, “what changed?” I could cite so many things – circumstances, situations, locations, relationships, age, jobs. But even though all those things had a part in helping me change my mind; in order to make a real change of heart, one needs help from God. As my confidence in God grew, so did my confidence in myself.
So, considering the MW definitions above, I think they actually work in reverse order:
2: the quality or state of being certain : CERTITUDE
When we are certain about God and His Word, we have all that we need. Do you want to change? Do you want deliverance? Do you want healing? Wholeness? Abundance? Peace? God’s Word has the answers you need. When you are certain that God is God; and are fully persuaded that His Word is truth; and have no doubt that God answers prayer, then God can give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) This is what God wants to do, we need to learn how to let Him do it.
I’ll be honest, I had never heard the word “certitude” before this. I had to look it up. Certitude means the same as certainty. When we are certain about the truth, then we begin to see heart of our Heavenly Father. And then our confidence grows because we see that He wants only the best for us in everything. God gave His only begotten son for us so that we could be saved and live a more than abundant life – forever! And being saved gives us a direct line of communication with God. He wants us to talk to Him. He wants to be our supplier, supporter and defender in every situation of our lives. And that brings us to:
b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way
We know that God is righteous, He is just, and He is all powerful. Therefore, we can be completely confident that He will do what He said He would do; that He will keep His promises; and that He will come to our aid in any situation. Think about it, who could act in a more right, proper or effective way than God? No one can do it better than He can! He warrants all our confidence, trust and believing.
Lastly, Merriam Webster says:
1a: a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances
With our unwavering faith in God, we can look at ourselves with confidence because we can believe that the things that God says about us are true. Most notably, we can believe:
Colossians 1:27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
This verse states that we have Christ in us. This is either true or it’s not. We believe it’s true! So, when we look at ourselves, that is what we should see. We should see ourselves as someone whom God valued enough to give His only begotten son for; someone whom God called before the foundation of the earth to be His son or daughter. We should see ourselves the way God sees us. He remembers that we’re frail, but He sees us as super-conquerors.
If confidence is being conscious of one’s powers, we have the power of God in Christ in us! And if it’s a reliance on one’s circumstances, our circumstances are that we’re saved and going to heaven and all hell can’t stop us! I’d say those are pretty good reasons to be confident.
We all have our own natural abilities, our own strengths and weaknesses. But if our confidence is built on those things alone; it is built on sand. However, if our confidence is built on God’s strength, His promises, and the finished work of Jesus Christ; it will be built on solid ground. That does not mean that we don’t utilize our own abilities and strengths, those are the things that give us our unique place in the body of Christ. Your unique qualities enrich the family of God in a way that only you can!
Why shouldn’t we be confident in who we are? We have the spirit of God dwelling in us. God is our Father. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us, and He meant what He said when He said that! Our self-confidence doesn’t come from our limited abilities alone, but from God’s unlimited power and His unfailing love that are in us. I can have self-confidence now, not because I am so great, but because God is!
So, build your confidence on God and stand fast on the firm foundation of His Word. Then when you go out and about, stand tall and say, “Look out world, here comes a son of God!” Confidence in God takes nothing away from who we are as individuals, it enables us to be the best individual that we can be.
Note to my readers: The highest ransom ever paid was paid by God for you! Thanks for reading!