Perhaps you’ve seen them; memes and motivational videos about how people need to stop being so humble and manifest their dreams with confidence! Regarding humility as a pesky, leftover concept that we have no use for now – the pancreas of human qualities. 5 keys to confidence
Humility, in cases like these, is wrongly defined and unfortunately discredited. It is conflated with self-deprecation or failure to believe that you’re “that girl.” An affectation of a ‘pick me’ persona.
Confidence is a wonderful quality that we should all have, but perhaps we’ve been thinking about it wrong. What if the key to having true confidence – the kind in which no ego wafts from its presence – is actually humility? What if one does not exist without the other? 5 keys to confidence
What are the elements of actual, real-life, God-approved confidence and how do we cultivate it correctly?
Acknowledgment of Your Gifts and Talents
You have things God has gifted you to do at which you are or have the potential to be awesome at. These things are a part of you by design. You are supposed to use it to the best of your ability. Acknowledging that and adding intentional development to natural talent so you can serve others is one of your jobs as a Jesus lovin’ human here on Earth. Someone out there needs you to be obedient and do the thing you are supposed to be doing.
If the point of the ability is to be used for God, it should be excellent – we should be excellent. Sometimes it’s necessary to put yourself out there, to speak about what you can do – but as long as you keep the focus correct, you won’t misstep into self-importance, self-deprecation or false humility. None of which are useful to your purpose or honoring to God.
Recognizing Your Shortcomings
It is perfectly ok to be proud of the work you’ve done. It is just as necessary as being honest about where you fall short without using things like fear, doubt or comparison as an excuse to not be who you’re called to be. Thinking lowly of yourself does not promote excellence – therefore it does not serve you and you, in turn cannot serve God to the full extent He’s equipped you to. Being aware of where you fall short does a couple of wonderful things: helps you understand that/where you need to grow and keeps you running back to Christ for His strength and power because you know that your own isn’t enough.
5 keys to confidence
Resting in God’s Grace
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 | James 4:6
Weaknesses are strengths when placed in God’s hands because His glory is on full display. Being aware of them keeps you close to the cross – knowing you need Christ. The good news I will submit to you is that you can rest in the fact that wherever you fall short, God’s grace is sufficient to cover it and you. His power is not limited by your ability. Your weaknesses are merely opportunities to show that off. When you think of it from that perspective, it takes the focus off of you and places it where it belongs.
You can be confident that God’s grace is always at work and your real or perceived innabilities in the midst of an obedient heart are not enough to stop what He wants to do in or through you.
Reverencing God’s Omnipotence
Every good and perfect gift in you comes from God. It goes right back to glorifying Him and all success belongs to Him. This is an important part of humility – recognizing you are the conduit, but not the focus. In the past, I’ve been scared to promote things I do or speak up to seize an opportunity because I didn’t want to put myself on some kind of pedestal – which actually led to disobedience at times because I ignored what God wanted me to do out of fear that the Christ in me wasn’t enough to quell the flesh in me.
If your heart posture is to recognize that God gave you tools to use, those tools exist because He allows them to exist, and you’re going to use them to honor Him – you can boldly step out into whatever arena He’s placed you in. Thinking lowly of yourself does not promote excellence – therefore it does not serve you and you, in turn cannot serve God to the full extent He’s equipped us to. Thinking too highly of yourself results in idolatry of your talents.
You need God & the Holy Spirit to strike the correct balance and keep your heart posture correct: God gives, we do not give to ourselves. Therefore our confidence does not rest in us, but in the Christ in us, without whom nothing is possible.
Accepting Coaching
This is so important! If you find yourself in a space where you feel like you know everything and no mentors can speak into your life, you have fallen off. Same goes for if you are afraid to receive feedback because it’s challenging or uncomfortable. Go back and make sure the other 4 components are working. If not, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate why you are doing what you are doing. Has it become all about you (your ability or your insecurities)? Maybe. God puts people in our lives to encourage us, to check us, to make us better. Not accepting this is a dangerous place to be. Humility & wisdom are a winning combination. But we must accept that we don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle. That’s why we need a community of believers, mentors, coaches, pastors & the like. They make you stronger by helping you see the things we cannot on our own.
With these 5 components in practice, you can walk boldly and unapologetically toward you calling with all or your gifts and talents in tow realizing, of course, that as humans sometimes we get off base. This is why daily time with God is so important – so He can speak to the whichever area is weak in us and lead us back to the right path.
How would you rate your confidence level? Is there anything on this list you want to get better at?