Self-confidence or God-confidence?

1 Corinthians 10:12

"Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence."

The context surrounding this verse is one where Paul is warning the Corinthians of being too self-confident in themselves, but this verse in particular stuck out to me for a slightly different reason.

In our culture being self-confidence and having good self-esteem is very highly regarded. But I think these ideas are so ingrained into us, that we so easily forget to rely on God; to put our confidence in God; to find our self-worth in how God sees us.

I know I screw up, I know that I make my mistakes. We are all human and will fail and fall. So often I can get caught up in trying to do things right, trying to be a good Christian, that I forget that I am God's daughter. I don't need to measure myself by the standards of this world, or put such a high value on how others view me when I am a daughter of the King! I have been chosen by the King, and He sees me as I am and loves me. He knows I will make mistakes, he knows I won't be perfect, but he sees my potential. He sees who I was created to be and is continually encouraging me to keep growing towards that.

The arrows that the Enemy throws at me through the hurtful words of others, or the things he whispers to me in areas where he knows I am weak don't need to hurt when I remember that I am God's beloved.

My confidence is in the One who created me; the One who knit me together in my mother's womb; who already knew the mistakes I would make; already knew how I would grow towards Him; already knew of the times I would turn away.

My worth is found in being God's beloved daughter. I don't need anything else beyond that, yet God is constantly reminding me through those around me. He is constantly encouraging me through the words of others, through incidences where He shows he is caring for me, through the truth that He speaks through the Bible. He lavishes His love on me so much!


Dear Papa,
I am in awe of the love that you have for me. How you are in every little detail, loving me through good and bad, constantly speaking to me and whispering, even shouting at times, how much you love me! And I can never reciprocate all that you have done for me. I owe you my life, yet you sacrificed your Son so that I might be redeemed, my debt paid in full. I want to give you my whole life and everything that is part of it, but so often I fail. Yet your grace is there to catch me, to bring me through, to teach me lessons, and to draw me closer to You. There are not enough words to describe you or what you have done for my life. Thank you so much for everything! For my friends, my family, my church, my new home, the people I will meet, and so on. I could go on forever!

Thank you for this reminder of how much you love me. I can never thank you enough. May my life be a life of continual worship to you!

I love you Papa :-)

Marieke