What does confidence mean to you?

Earlier this week, I watched a short video, put out by Buzzfeed, about confidence.  And, to be honest, it struck me in a unique way.  Confidence is often this scary ideal, something that seems either out of reach or vane.  But should it really be that way?  As someone who isn’t naturally confident, I think this is an idea that we should be talking about a whole lot more! Maybe we just need to look for confidence in a slightly different way than we might expect…

But first, let’s talk a bit about why this video stuck out to me.

As most people probably know, Buzzfeed is a secular media company that is known for its quizzes and comedy/experimental videos.  That being said, I don’t necessarily agree with everything that they’re preaching, even in this specific video.  However, I do believe all things can be analyzed and used as tools of learning, even if they don’t completely align with our own ideas.  Just a small disclaimer:)

As I saw in this video, talking about confidence in the secular world will likely focus on the more physical, material aspects of life.  Things like outward appearance, work accomplishments, and wealth are often attached to confidence.

But that isn’t always true.  We have all seen models talk about how un-confident they are on the runway.  Work accomplishments aren’t everything either.  Just because you have the job and the house doesn’t mean you’re going to feel good about yourself.

So, what does lead to true confidence?

While most of the video talked about confidence in a more vane sense, one quote stuck out to me.

“Confidence is such a nebulous thing, its something that has to be cultivated.” Devin Lytle

This quote stuck out to me hard.  Confidence isn’t a clear-cut thing.  It’s not just something that we wake up with; it requires work!  It’s also important to realize that this confidence doesn’t only come from ourselves.  It’s not our looks, or our house, or our job. It’s truly so much more than that.

As silly as it may sound, our confidence comes from our identity in Christ.

Christ cultivates our identity, strengthens it, and develops it into exactly what it should be.  That, my friends, it something to find confidence in!

What’s more, this confidence is so beautifully Christian.  Just peak into your bible and you will find verse after verse about being confident in the Lord.

“In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence.” – Proverbs 14:26

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” – 1^st Timothy 1:7

The Lord wants us to find confidence in Him, but it is truly up to us to put in the work and the faith to know that we deserve that strength!

Have a beautiful Saturday!

Maddy