Are You Truly Confident?

Are you confident?

What is confidence really?

One dictionary definition is "freedom from doubt." I really like this definition because of the use of the word freedom. To be confident is to be free of second guessing. Can you imagine? How many times a day do you timidly go into something, or make a decision then go back on it? I think that our generation is extremely reserved and cautious.
Right now you might be going "What??! All my friends are crazy! We act like lunatics when we're together."
While this may be true, it's not the type of cautiousness I'm talking about. It's great to let your guard down around friends, but there's very little risk involved. What I mean by cautious is that we are afraid to do uncomfortable things. We have a fear of rejection that's been branded on our minds. Maybe it started when you were very young, and people asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up. If you're like me, you probably responded "a famous singer!" or "the president!" (or if you're REALLY like me you would have said "I want to be able to reach the lightswitch! but that's another story). Well, the inquirers might have gone along with you when you were still a little kid, but as you got older they wanted more serious answers. Past the age of 8, you're rarely told that you're special anymore. You know that you're expected to go to college, become a computer programmer, teacher, or if you're extremely ambitious, a scientist at mayo, and even if nobody says "You can't be the president," you know it's true. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being doctors, lawyers, and teachers, but what happened to your passions and big dreams? You settled for what you know you'll succeed at, because of society implying that you won't make it if you try to do extraordinary things. But that's completely false. Someone obviously made it, why not you? No one is significantly closer to perfection than anyone else, so why could one person achieve any more than you can? Also, you have someone backing you up that not every celebrity, politician, and CEO has, THE ALMIGHTY GOD!! Nothing, I repeat, not a single thing, cannot be accomplished when it's put up to God. If He wants it to happen, it'll happen. YOU and I need to try in order for HIM to succeed. You're a part of His plan, live confidently.

Another note under the definition of confidence says this-
"Confidence may imply trust in oneself or arrogant self-conceit. Assurance implies even more sureness of oneself; this may be shown as undisturbed calm or as offensive boastfulness."
Think about how many people you know who seem conceited. Do you think you seem conceited? Now here's a different question- how many do you think are TRULY conceited? They honestly think they're better than everyone else. It's a rare thing to find anyone who is so confident that it actually goes over the top and makes them boastful. Usually, people who appear stuck-up are simply trying to draw attention away from what they think of as their biggest flaws. By putting up a mask of overconfidence, they think they're hiding any insecurities. I was having a conversation with a few friends tonight, after I started writing a post about confidence, when the topic of confidence in teenagers came up. Here's how the conversation went:
G (Who is a dude) - Trina, do you think you're fat?
Me- Hmm, I mean, uh... I know that I lost a bunch of weight last year, but then I gained a lot of it back, so I'm obviously not as skinny as I could be.
G- See? All girls think they're fat!
H (Who is a chick) - Well, not exactly. Some girls think they're fat, and others have some other problem that they try to fix, like not being toned enough, or needing to gain weight.
Me- I agree, almost all girls have some big problem with their appearance.
G- I don't freak out about being too skinny. Sometimes I wish I had more upper body strength and stuff, but I don't really need it... so... I don't really do anything about it. B, I bet you're totally fine with your appearance.
B (Also a dude)- Uhhh...

Look at that! I was with three other teenagers, secretly wishing that I was as thin as the other girl, who was wishing she was thinner. And the guys- I think they both look great, I would never suggest that either of them change their looks in any way, yet they both had issues with appearance as well. EVERYONE thinks they need to change themselves. Everyone, especially teens, spends a lot of time and energy trying to better themselves and become socially acceptable. I think there's something wrong with that. Why should we be so unsatisfied with who God made us to be? We don't even deserve to live, why should we deserve to be the most attractive human in the world? And yet, to God we are all beautiful. He sees past our sin and shame because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We were created in God's image, so when He looks at us it's like mini-versions of Himself. Definitely not God, not nearly perfect, but still modeled after Him. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, we are made holy and pure. Why should we lack confidence when the God of the universe sees us as beautiful?

Basically, we can be confident in our actions because God is behind us, beside us, working through us, and leading us.
AND we can be confident in ourselves because God created us in his image, took away our sin, and thinks we are beautiful.

So now I hope you can go in the assurance that you can accomplish great things, and not hold back because of flaws that may have seemed crippling at one time or another. I pray that the peace of the Lord will stay in your hearts as you fight for His divine purpose.

Psalm 27:1-3
The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me, I will not fear. Though war break out against me, even then I WILL BE CONFIDENT.