CONFIDENT

As female athletes, confidence is one of the things we need the most but find ourselves having the least. From the court to the classroom, the field to our friendships, we want to be confident in what we are doing as athletes, but most importantly, who we are as girls. Some of the biggest reasons for our lack of confidence include comparison and performance.

• Comparison: As girls, we often compare our bodies, athletic ability, and relationships—the list continues. Comparison kills our contentment.
• Performance: As athletes, we are taught, from an early age, that if we perform well, we will get praised. If we perform poorly, we get criticized. When our confidence comes from performance, it can feel like a performance treadmill—exhausted and never going anywhere.
• Perfectionism: Because of our comparison struggles and performance for others, we feel like we have to be perfect all the time for all people. And when we realize we can’t be perfect, our confidence plummets, and we settle for the perception of perfection instead.

Whether you feel the pain of comparison and performance in your daily life or not, there is good news. As followers of Christ, our confidence doesn’t come from ourselves but God. One of the most confident people in the Bible is a guy by the name of Paul. Paul wrote the majority of the books of the New Testament, but Paul had a past. Before he became a follower of Jesus, he identified as a Pharisee who led the charge in persecuting Jesus and His followers. The Pharisees were all about their appearance and performance.

These religious leaders, including Paul, were in the comparison trap and on the performance treadmill, finding their confidence in things of this world and their hearts far from God. How often are we comparing ourselves to other athletes, coaches, or women in general?

But one day, on a dirt road to Damascus, Paul encountered the real God that changed him from the inside out. His eyes were opened to who God was and who God wanted him to be, and therefore, he was confident in what he was called to do. Paul stopped performing for people and surrendered to Jesus. Paul understood that confidence from God happens when we stay faithful to God. We grow in our confidence when we stay connected—to God’s Word, His Church, and through conversation in prayer. Our desire to stay connected to God is recognizing our absolute dependence on God.

It’s not self-confidence—it’s God-confidence.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” — Ephesians 2:8 NLT

We can learn from Paul that all the performance and perfection we strive for will not lead to self-loathing. But a life surrendered to Christ will make us the strong and confident athletes we want to be.

Talk About It:

As teammates, you can help each other learn about God-confidence as Christian competitors. The theory that there’s strength in numbers is supported in Scripture—starting with the Father Himself as One of Three—and it certainly applies to you in your quest to embrace who you really are. By joining forces with your teammates, you can multiply your strength and resources in the battle for your souls. As a group, let’s work through the following questions and activities together:

1. Have you relied on shallow, false confidence?
2. How did that make you feel about yourself?
3. What’s the difference between worldly confidence and biblical confidence?

Prayer:

“Lord, as I open Your Word, continue to open my heart to what You want to teach me about confidence. Teach me what it means to be confident in who You are and who You say I am as a daughter of the Holy God. Amen.”