Confidence can be a hard thing. Finding the right balance is much easier to talk about than it is to find. Some have no confidence at all, or at best have a weak confidence, while others are so over-confident that it's almost sickening.
As young teenagers, we were part of a certain church organization. This small organization owned a campground in the tiny burg of Old Paris, Indiana. I suppose like many small hamlets, at one time it had been a bustling place. But the years had put it to sleep and it was nothing more than a group of houses with only one small country store (at that time it's even closed now).
A creek ran through that campground which opened up to a six foot or so waterfall. Over the years the water spilling over that falls had worn out a fairly good and deep section we fondly called the "swimming hole." The water was always cold which was shocking when you first jumped in but after you got used to it the refreshment on an extremely hot day was fantastic.
One particular year a family from Florida came to our annual weeklong camp meeting. They had two boys about our age and we began to talk with them telling them about all the exciting things to do at the camp. No matter what we told them they always had something better in Florida. They began to wear on my nerves. Then we told them about the "swimming hole." Immediately they began to brag about how well they could swim, which again wore on me because at that time I didn't know how to swim at all, except a few strokes in a dog paddle.
Securing permission from our parents to show the boys the "swimming hole" we were off for our favorite pastime at the camp a cool refreshing dip in the water. The "swimming hole" was well shaded which probably added to the coolness and as we got closer those "Florida boys" began to shiver a little. Stripping down to our swimming shorts we jumped right in and began splashing and having a grand ole' time. Then I noticed our two expert swimmers from Florida. One of them had dipped his toe in the water and immediately pulled it back out. There stood those two boys shivering and shaking like it was January. They might have been expert swimmers in warm and sunny Florida, but our good ole' Southern Indiana "swimming hole" had gotten the best of them. They weren't so confident after that.
We can be over-confident. But when it comes to our Christian growth confidence is a must. Living in the spirit can be very challenging. We are constantly being tempted by the devil. One of the tricks he seems to thoroughly enjoy using is telling us that our failures are signs that we just don't have the goods. "You can't ever seem to get it right!" he accuses. "Whatever made you think that you were cut out to be a Christian? You might as well face it and give up right now!" Do any of these words sound familiar?
The fact is that the devil doesn't want you to grow in Christ. His goal is to tempt you, trick you and do everything he can to pull the wool over your eyes and make you feel like you are a complete failure. The truth is that we are all complete failures without the free gift of salvation granted us by the grace of Christ Jesus. We need to let this fact become deeply imbedded into our thinking. We are absolutely nothing without Jesus. The devil does his job well because he tells us just enough truth to make us doubt. But he's always careful to make it completely our responsibility to be a Christian and leave the Lord out of it.
When we realize what he's trying to do we can then boldly tell him, "You are right; I'm not cut out for this in myself. But I have been made a new creation in Christ Jesus. I am now living in the spirit with the help of the Holy Spirit. I can do all things in Christ Jesus!" When you do you'll feel your spiritual confidence building up inside. The devil will not walk but run from you, at least for now (don't worry he always comes back so be ready for him). Know that you are growing in the Lord and place your confidence squarely on him and you will be a victorious Christian!
Jerry D. Ousley is the Author of five books, "Soul Challenge", "Soul Journey" "Ordeal" "The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional" and his first novel "The Shoe Tree." Find out more by visitingwww.spiritbread.com
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