Christ-Confidence

Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

I had read that self-confidence is not the virtue that modern folks have made it to be. I’m sure that you all know the fact that there have been hundreds of books written on the importance of self-confidence and how to obtain it. The Bible has little to say about self-confidence, other than the fact that it is a curse, not a virtue. Why?

The word “confidence” is a combination of two Latin words: “con” (translated “with”) and fides (translated “faith”), so “Self-confidence” mans “with faith in yourself,” and that is misplaced faith. What we need is not self-confidence, but Christ-confidence. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” If you have self-confidence, you are going to run into a problem that is bigger than you can handle; your self-confidence is going to give way and the result of that is often despair and despondency. If you succeed, you get pride. That is never good, because pride can be deadly for the spiritual life. Yet, we have those hundreds of books teaching parents and children how to have self-confidence, leaving Christ out of the equation.  Jesus Christ is faithful unto death. Romans 3:22 “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Where is your faith?

In Christ, Brian