It has taken me too long to realise that humility brings confidence in Christ

I am not humble at all! I often see pride and puffed-up-ness in me – viewing myself as strong and defiant, right and wise, tough and strong etc. And, in the process, I find myself having to feed my ‘flesh’; whether this ‘flesh’, metaphorically speaking, concerns my ego – saying to myself I am clever, a very good teacher, insightful, resilient, and so on; or literally concerning, say, my often out-of-control eating habits – saying to myself I deserve this indulging of pleasures because it is for me, and I only have one life which is mine. Either way, my pride keeps repeating falsely, whether in a high or low volume, that I must keep feeding myself otherwise I will surely die!

Of course, the truth is that this lack of humility, ironically, will always bring death and diminishment, disquiet, frustration, and fear (most notably, fear of failure as my pride and ego is constantly, and inevitably, under threat in this world, whether in small ways or big ways). However, given this diabolical twist in asserting my pride (or asserting myself), I have all too slowly realised that my confidence must be grounded, not in self-confidence, but confidence in Christ – that without him, without God made flesh, I am nothing; but with him, I am everything! This proclamation is a Christian cliché certainly, but I have learned that I must always pray to experience this cliche afresh, and never (so stupidly!) see myself as the source of all things good in my life! As Paul states boldly in 2 Corinthians 3:4-5: “Such is the reliance and confidence that we have through Christ toward and with reverence to God. Not that we are fit (qualified or sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgements or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God.” (taken from the Amplified Bible). 

Click on book cover image on this blog's home page for information on my book Nine Steps to Well-Being: A Spiritual Guide for Disconnected Christians and Other Questioning Journeyers - first three chapters are FREE!!