Developing Godly Self-Confidence预览

Thinking Much Of Ourselves

We all know people who, after reaching some measure of success, walk around confidently like their achievements give them a platform that elevates them higher than the rest of us. Or maybe we view personal success as something we need to obtain before we ourselves can walk in confidence. The truth is, the only level of success that brings unshakable confidence is the victory we have in Christ, and that's not anything we can achieve by ourselves. Boasting about what we are able to do on our own inevitably leads to our downfall. But when we boast about what we are able to do in spite of ourselves, God gets all the glory. Sometimes, in the name of humility, we lean too much toward not boasting at all, but what’s the point of God doing something miraculous through us if we aren’t going to testify about it? 

Scripture tells us over and over what our significance is in Christ. As children of God, we have His Spirit living in us, who equips us with direct access to the mind of God and His power. The One who lives within us is greater than the one who lives in the world. We can do anything by the strength of Christ living in us. We can cast out demons, heal the sick, and prophesy over situations that are dead or broken, speaking life into them again. That’s amazing! 

At some point, we have to talk about what we’re able to do by the power of the Holy Spirit living within us because other people will notice and start to ask questions. The key is to not claim that power is from ourselves, or feed into the excitement about what we’re able to do. In Luke 10, Jesus’ disciples had just returned from being sent out by Jesus to minister, and they were in awe of how the demons had submitted to them in the name of Jesus. It can often feel the same way for us when we’re able to do something beyond what we could have done on our own. We want to shout it from the rooftops! But verse 20 reminds us that even though we have the authority to do miraculous things, the really exciting thing is not what we can do but what that means about who we are in Christ.

Our names are written in heaven. God knows who we are. He created us specifically and chooses to live in us and invite us into His work. He pours out His love and His power through us. No other living creature can say that! It’s an incredible honor that we should be excited about and always point back to. When we have godly self-confidence, it means we stand in our true identity as a child of God and walk in the authority He has given us by the power of the Holy Spirit. That gives us freedom to move and speak boldly, all while pointing to Jesus and bringing glory to the Father.