There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except for the One Who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me {Isaiah 45:5}.
No Independent Self ~ Norman Grubb
I have been watching with some interest lately a few videos from podcaster and former Fox News celebrity Jedediah Bila. Her shtick is to encourage men in dating and relationships by instilling in them some form of confidence. Now, she has definitely turned me on to a few certain behaviors which are displayed by women which I have noticed in play in the gym environment which I often frequent. But I take issue with her attempts to encourage men to somehow be more confident in their lives. This might be a popular topic these days as so many men have been beaten down supposedly by the introduction into society of feminism and women's rights. While I do agree that feminism has caused havoc on the traditional gender roles which many of us grew up with, at the same time I question this entire idea of self confidence. Tell me, what is it that you have confidence in? Who is it that you have confidence in? Because, if you tell me that you have confidence in yourself as a man, you're missing the mark entirely. When i speak to this idea to others, I often get more than a few blank stares. I get it. We've been conditioned to see ourselves as the masters of our own life. Therefore, we're told that we need to realize that we're in charge of what we do. To have confidence as a man is to display the knowledge that we're in command of our situation. But could it be that the very reason that so many people struggle with so called self confidence is because that confidence has been misplaced? Let me explain, who is it that ultimately controls your life? Do you live day by day living in the belief that you're in charge of your own destiny? If you do, prepare for some truth to be presented to you. Is your life your own? I would answer no to that question. However, many within the mainstream church would most likely say that God comes in second fiddle when it comes to how we live our lives. Yet Jesus has proclaimed that we now live our life in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}. This confidence which we all too often place in ourselves should, instead, be placed in the true source of our life, Christ Jesus {Johns Account 1:1-3}.
Do you believe that you came into being through your own efforts? That you somehow were there when the decision was made between two people which would ultimately lead to your conception? The truth is, it is the Father Who has formed and created us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}. So, what good is it, therefore, to have confidence is something which you had no hand in creating? What good it, oh man, to have confidence in something that is not even yours {Paul to the Corinthians 6:19-20}? Can you now see that this confidence you seek has been misplaced? That your life has never been your own to live? The apostle Paul speaks to this truth in a foundational passage of the truth of Christ Jesus in us {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. Paul understood that he, as an individual, was dead. That all that now remains is Christ Jesus in us. I would venture to say that Paul did not struggle with the same self confidence issues which so many do, because he ultimately knew where his life was. His life was not his own, but was lived in union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, this is exactly how our own confidence has been misplaced by so many people who have zero idea where their life really is. It is why I can confidently say that I rarely struggle with my own self confidence, because I know in my heart that my life is in the Father.
Or are you not aware that your body is a temple of the holy spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price. By all means glorify God in your body
Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6: 19-20, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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