Confidence: a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities. This is one of the definitions Google provided that I felt was most accurate in today's post. Having self-assurance is a must in life. I recently found myself having a conversation with my significant other and the topic of confidence came up. Just like you all, I have had my share of experiences that have told me to be less confident in myself in a number of areas, for a number of reasons, as a result, I have trained my mind to do just that.
If I can vulnerable for a moment I will, one of the ways I struggle with confidence is when it comes to who I am as a person. My image of my body is not what it should be. Society has told us we are to look a certain way in order to be found attractive or of any sort of value. Bullies in school have beaten us down one too many times, telling us that the things that make us stand out are the things that make them hit us with their fists and slap us with their nasty words. I have fallen victim to that. As I am sure we all have in one way or another. I want to change that and I feel you should as well. The day we grow to be more confident in who we are and who's we are, is the day the world no longer has rights to our feelings and how we feel about ourselves.
It's time we reclaim our identities and gain the confidence we need to be the best us we can be. Let's start with reminding ourselves of what God says about us, if you open your bible to Psalm 139:14 you will read, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well", the book of Psalm is written by David. Throughout this book we see how David was always crying out to God, when he was joyous (as we see here) and when he was in pain and distressed. In this we see David acknowledging the truth of who he is. In a way it can be argued that he is reassuring himself of what God says about him. We often hear this scripture quoted or written in fancy font on a pretty background. Yet it (in my opinion) is more than just a screensaver or a piece of wall art.
David not only acknowledges that he is fearfully and wonderfully made, but he also mentions his reaction to that truth. He says God's works are wonderful. God created all things, you and I are included in all things, which means that you and I are wonderful. There is nothing about you or about me that is not wonderful. We are as we should be, of course we all have areas in our lives that need improvement, but our general composition and being is wonderful because God created us. After acknowledging that God's works are wonderful he says because of that truth, he knows it full well. To me, I take that last line as David saying that he fully believes it, he doesn't just know it to be true but he believes it. I want us to read this verse and believe it in our hearts, that we would look at ourselves and all of our flaws and still see that we are wonderful. There is nothing God put His hand to that is not wonderful, that includes you. Lets adopt the mindset of David and praise God because we recognize that He has created us fearfully and wonderfully.
I will leave us with a prayer,
God, I thank you for Your word that guides me to Your truths about who You are. I thank You for the words You speak over me. I ask that You would keep these truths about me in my heart. That they would not just be used as my screensavers or as proof that I am a Christian but that they would rest in my heart, that my mind may never forget. Would You help me grow in confidence, not in cockiness nor in conceit but in confidence in You and in who You created me to be. Would You help me relinquish the lies I have believed that were spoken by others, that there would be only room enough for Your truth and wisdom.
I pray and ask all of these things in Jesus' name,
Amen