I Am: 7 Keys to Unlock Your FutureSample

I Am Confident

When we think of a confident person, most of us probably picture a man or woman standing tall, chin up, with their eyes fearlessly focused on their goal. They know what they want, and they know that they have what it takes to get it. Everyone in their world is attracted to them because they seem so, well, confident. 

Faced with the realization of how important confidence is to succeed in life, many of us look deep inside ourselves . . . and we panic. We aren’t confident. We aren’t bold. We can sometimes fake it with enough caffeine and desperation, but we don’t feel nearly as confident as we are told we ought to be. 

So we pretend. “Fake it ‘til you make it” becomes our mantra. And we rarely stop to wonder how many of the apparently confident people around us are giving themselves the same pep talk. 

If we’re honest, appearing confident is easier than being confident, and plenty of people are scared spitless behind their self-assured façade. That doesn’t mean we assume people are faking their confidence, but let’s not assume they are demigods either. 

On the other hand, some people mistake arrogance for confidence. They are convinced that they are smarter than everyone around them, and that the world is not worthy of their presence. But this isn’t true confidence any more than the fake confidence we just mentioned. 

Both are counterfeits. But God offers the real thing. 

Real confidence can be defined as “an awareness of who you are, regardless of how you compare or measure up to others.”  It is born out of an inner security that doesn’t need constant affirmation from others, that doesn’t have to dominate to prove itself, that isn’t shaken by failure because it wasn’t built on performance in the first place. 

True confidence can’t be faked, at least not for long. In times of difficulty, our core beliefs are revealed. If our confidence is merely a façade, it will crack. If our confidence is just pride in our supposedly superior abilities, it will crumble. But if our confidence is the authentic outward expression of an unshakable inner security in Christ, we will stand.

Confidence gives us the freedom to learn, grow, and develop. It allows us to risk failure as part of that learning process, because we don’t need to appear perfect to impress others or feel good about ourselves. As a result, we end up becoming and doing more than we ever could have if we had remained bound by the need to appear perfect. 

Declare

I am confident, so I chase radical humility.