Where Confidence Comes From

Your whole life, you've been told to be confident in yourself and develop self-confidence.  I've been guilty of promoting this and sharing thoughts on how to develop yourself and your mind to create more success through believe in yourself and abilities.  But, one thing I've never really mentioned is where this comes from.  Maybe I've taken it for granted that people just know and understand that the underpinning of success and confidence in your ability to reach it comes from faith - not in yourself, but in God, the higher power to guide you.  

One of my favorite passages from the bible is from Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  For me, I can be confident in myself because I believe I have the backing of Christ to strengthen me and I just assume that others know this.  But, many don't and it is their confidence only in themselves without understanding that it comes from a higher power that is their downfall.

I was reminded of this in a good way last week from a daily devotional I get.  Here is the message:


Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
— Psalm 20:7

Self-confidence is not the virtue that modern man has made it into. In fact, there have been no doubt hundreds, if not thousands, of books written on self-confidence and how to obtain it. Do you have self-confidence? The Bible has little to say about it other than the fact that it is a curse, not a virtue.

The word “confidence” is a combination of two Latin words: con (with), and fides (faith), so “Self-confidence” means “with faith in yourself,” and that is misplaced faith. Our faith should be in Christ. What we need is not self-confidence, but Christ-confidence. If you have self-confidence, you are always going to run into somebody bigger than you are, stronger than you are. You are going to run into a problem that is bigger than you can handle; your self is going to give way and the result of that is often despair and despondency.

But if you succeed, that’s even worse. What do you get then? You get pride. The Bible tells us “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). It can be deadly for the spiritual life. Sadly, in America today, we have hundreds of books teaching people how to have self-confidence, and thousands of parents are teaching their children to “Be proud.” (James Kennedy Ministries)


Be careful that you don't have blind self-confidence that leads to pride and destruction.