Hebrews 10:35

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.ESV.

Ever noticed how some people exude confidence no matter the situation? Whereas others fidget, hesitate, and cast doubt without any effort. Confidence is the assurance of knowing who you are; especially after your strengths and weaknesses are battle tested. But more importantly, great confidence comes when you truly know God really loves you, goes before you, and will carry you when times are tough based on continual experience. Real confidence is the balance between knowing yourself and knowing your Maker.

Today many people have a false illusion of how real confidence is developed. Parents raise their children under the illusion of self-esteem. Whether Johnny or Susie fail or succeed, they create the illusion that their child is the best. Johnny may run the race and finish last, but instead of facing the reality of failure and learning from it, parents discard the truth for wanting to make the child feel good about themselves. They confuse performance with self-worth and end up damaging the child’s natural inclination. Instead of helping the child discover their real identity in Christ, we create a platform of measuring their self-worth through performance.

The same in our relationship with Jesus. We grow in confidence as we lean on him and witness how he responds to our dilemma. He may not change our circumstances, but will always provide a way for us to move through it. Afterward we will come to know more about ourselves and substantially more about our Lord.

Confidence is developed when we fail, learn from it, and grow from it. We learn how to succeed and how to properly fail. We learn humility along with confidence. Humility in understanding who we are in Christ and always confident in Him.

No we don’t need false adoration, nor flattery to feel good about ourselves. We just need to know who we are in Christ and trust him to take us through the ups and downs of life. Through this sanctifying process, we gain confidence and assurance. We truly come to experience, realize, and know His grip on our life.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Discipleship 360
Author of e-Books:

*  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
*  Great Business Emulates a Good God
*  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
*  Simply The Messenger
*  Unequally Married

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Copyright 2017 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. Proverbs 16:20 ESV.

Trust is a two way street. You may want to trust the other person, but can they trust you? Former President Ronald Reagan loved to quote the expression “trust and verify.” In my experience with others, this simple advice truly works in today’s culture.

If you are having a trust issue with another person, you may want to use this approach. Don’t trust them with everything at one time. Instead, build trust one promise at a time.

Likewise if you want to be considered a trustful person, behave as one. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Instead, when you make a promise, keep it. Live your life with “yes” or “no” as your promise. You will find over time that when people trust your words, your character and ability, your influence for God’s Kingdom will be more quickly accepted because of your proven actions in the past.

Doesn’t God behave the same way with us? When he personally makes a promise to us, doesn’t he keep it? It may not be on our schedule (isn’t God always late in our human opinion), but in hindsight we will see how everything works out better than we could ever expect. Even when God put Abraham to the test in potentially sacrificing his own son, He was building a trustful relationship one act at a time. God knew Abraham’s heart; afterward Abraham knew his heart and God’s heart – leading to mutually trust which builds a stronger relationship.

We can do likewise. First become a person who can be trusted. Then work to build trust with others. And always lean on building trust with our Lord in everything you do.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Discipleship 360
Author of e-Books:

*  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
*  Great Business Emulates a Good God
*  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
*  Simply The Messenger
*  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2017 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved