A great way to gain confidence is to do things that lie just outside of our natural comfort zone by entering the learning zone.
Hebrews 4:14–16
‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’ (v16)
Confidence is complete trust. We think about confidence in God (Jer. 17:7–8), but it’s more challenging to place full confidence in ourselves. Jeremiah reminds us that confidence provides the roots to sustain us through uncertain seasons. Most often we act as our own harshest critics.
God loves us despite knowing everything about us, but we never disillusion Him because He never had any illusions to start with. Step one in building our confidence is to accept ourselves as we are, just as God does.
When we make comparisons with others, we are only judging ourselves through the lens of our own perception, and perceptions vary and never offer the whole truth. We also build confidence through participating in peer groups.
The purpose of church-based small groups is to support us through storytelling in discovering that each member, whilst different, has a unique and important contribution to make to the whole.
Finally, it’s good to set achievable challenges for ourselves to demonstrate we can complete our goals. These milestones help us to discover we can invest in achieving positive outcomes, rather than fretting at what we think we can’t do. A great way to gain confidence is to do things that lie just outside of our natural comfort zone by entering the learning zone.
Push too far, too fast and we enter the danger zone and lose our confidence. Learning to love and serve God is a gradual and continuous movement outwards, which builds self-confidence along the way.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
Ps. 139:1–18; Isa. 41:8–13; Eph. 3:14–21; Phil. 1:3–11.
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
How willing are you to move out of your comfort zone
and explore the learning zone and all it offers
in helping you to grow in self-confidence?
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, search me and know my heart; test
me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any
offensive way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting. Amen.’ (Ps. 139:23–24)
Photo by lauren lulu taylor on Unsplash; Photo by Instant Manner on Unsplash
