Confidence
Have you ever considered that you don't have a healthy definition of confidence in your head?
That's what happened to me today. I realized that I had defined much of healthy confidence as toxic. Which is not a way to live. Not a way to prosper. Not a way to exist.
You see confidence is a good thing. Swagger is a good thing. Arrogance and pride however are not good things. And I had clearly merged the two together. Confidence and arrogance. I had made them the same thing when they are in fact very different things.
Confidence is healthy, powerful.
Arrogance and pride are poison that will destroy every aspect of your life.
You see confidence is the emotional place of knowing something without having to question it. That could be simple things like knowing how to do your job. Or more complex things like knowing who you are, or what you are supposed to be doing with your life.
On the other hand arrogance and pride are the things that we use to lie to ourselves and spiral our lives into the darkness.
As a person who worked to overcome arrogance, I understand the cost of arrogance.
As a person who has continually battled with pride that cost me everything I loved, I understand the cost of pride.
Sadly the cost of pride is a lifelong thing. We are all prideful about something. And every time you are humbled to the point of your pride being destroyed, there is another battle yet to be fought. But I digress...
Confidence is not toxic. In fact it's a requirement to be successful and fulfill your purpose. You have to be confident in your pursuit of your purpose. You have to be confident in your calling. And you have to be confident that you are following the Lord, not your own dysfunction.
When in doubt, ditch your feelings. Follow God's purpose. You won't go wrong following God. But you will go wrong if you follow your feelings.
God calls us to follow him. Remember what He has said to you. Don't be an Israelite who abandons what God said because they couldn't wait long enough. The enemy always swoops in to get you to give up on your own prayers being answered just before God answers them. Don't let the enemy rob you of your own answered prayers. And if you did give up, turn around and go back! Just because things went sideways doesn't mean God didn't know in advance. He may have prepared a way for you to still receive your answered prayer! Don't let pride cause you to continue to lose out on your own prayers being answered.
Renew your confidence in what God has told you. Pick it back up and don't let it go!
Fight!