Confidence

7 Jul

“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.”  ~ Joe Namath

Teachers spend a huge amount of time in an attempt to help their students feel confident about their abilities to achieve the tasks at hand. Teachers also feel a great sense of joy when they see their students grasp concepts and succeed in their tasks.

Employers do what they can to ensure that their employees are equipped with what is necessary — training, materials, tools — to get the job done in such a manner as to bolster their confidence in their abilities.

Confidence is something that is extremely important.  When people feel confident, they feel as if they can take on the world.  There is a certain manner in the way they present themselves to others.  There is an enthusiasm about them. There is also apparent joy as they go about their work.

Joe Namath reminds us that confidence gives us the ability to have fun doing what needs to be done.  That confidence, which leads to joy in our work, gives us the prompting to do even more.  It will allow us to achieve great things.

Confidence is important in our faith lives as well.  There are times in the lives of Christians where they feel that their faith lives are dry and that they are not getting anywhere. That might be because they lack confidence not only in their own abilities but in the Lord. Perhaps they are not confident about their calling. Maybe they question what they are supposed to be doing.

A lack of confidence can thwart a Christian.  It can stifle a prayer life.  It can contribute to a person’s decision to quit doing a ministry. It can also lead to a stunted and unfulfilling prayer life.

God has all the confidence in the world in us because He made us and He knows what we are capable of accomplishing, especially with the gifts of the Holy Spirit that He pours into our lives. It is up to us to take a good, hard look at ourselves and to attempt to see what God sees in us.

If we were able to see ourselves as God sees us, we would gain all the confidence that we needed to live our lives of faith in the world.  Be confident and unafraid, then.  Know that God will never leave your side and that He has all the confidence in the world in you.

FAITH ACTION:  Pray for those who have allowed fear to immobilize them, that they may be able to gain confidence in themselves through God’s love.