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Humility and Confidence Are the Same
Humility and confidence are two sides to the same coin. That coin being the truth, in response to the question of our standing before God. Where is the source of my value – on what can I rely upon? You can’t have one without the other. Not because it is a balancing act that requires equal parts to work out, but because they are the same.
You can have false confidence without humility, but that’s just arrogance. We can call it what we want (i.e., being self-sufficient), but it is an inflated sense of self-worth or understanding – one that puts greater reliance on something disproportionate to its defensibility. It draws value from one’s own contribution and it is opposed to the need of the Cross.
It considers anything that comes from God as our own and is unaware (or not mindful of) the severe greatness of Jesus Christ. It misses that without Christ, I am nothing. That there is only one that is worthy – the great Lamb. That there is only one King and Master – Jesus Christ. That all good comes from God and all the honor is owed to Him.
You can have false humility without confidence, but that’s just self-pity. We can call it what we want (i.e., being overly serving, meek), but it is a moaning, overt or subtle. It draws value from one’s own lack of contribution and it is opposed to the result of the Cross.
It considers ourselves as unworthy, opting to debase and disparage ourselves and reject anything that comes from God. It misses that without Christ, I am nothing. It is unaware of that we are the glory of God, the fragrance of Jesus Christ. That we are part of Jesus Christ, a member of His own body, and share in His glory as fellow heir to all things.
They are both centered around “me.”
One says “look at me,” and the other says “don’t look at me.”
The Source Of Our Confidence
The truth isn’t fitting them together to make up for where each are lacking, they are both dishonest and unacceptable. They are a broken approach to the matter of our standing. They must be both thrown out.
Our entire response to the matter of our standing, the source of our value, has everything to do with how good He is. How great He is. How wonderful He is.
The truth is, He chose me.
Our confidence is that we are chosen.
Our humility is that He chose us.
Beautifully, our standing and position before God isn’t established, improved, or deflated. Where one attempts to be holy by one’s own contribution, the other attempts to be holy by the inability to contribute.
Consider the introduction to Corinthians from Paul:
“To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling… I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, just as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:1, 4-9).
This was to brothers and sisters riddled with issues! They sued each other to their own shame. They had greater sexual corruption than the gentile world around them. They were woefully inconsiderate to each other and disgraced the blood and body of Jesus in communion. They sought the spiritual gifts of God without consideration to who they were to be used for (each other). Some doubted whether Jesus rose from the dead!
And yet… they could rest assured that Jesus Christ would confirm them as blameless saints (holy ones) before the judgement seat of God.
“Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
(Jude 1:25)
What Is Our Confidence
We have to know that we are worth the death of Jesus of Christ. In all His glory and splendor, that we are worth His separation the perfect love that Father had for Him. We have to know that we are always in great and desperate need of Him.
So, as thoughts and belief structures attempt to form as you encounter memories and chances to stand before men, we must walk with the quiet confidence of Jesus Christ. The strong meekness. One that doesn’t need to announce itself, in order to noticed.
Why must we? Because a whole world is at stake. Many are desperate for something to stand on, but another shaky raft isn’t going to help. We have been given the Rock to stand on. On that Rock, we must stand!
My confidence is this: His goodness is unconditionally towards me and His mercy is greater than my need for it. And He lavishes them both upon me, for my God deals bountifully with me. For our God is a generous God.
As it all relies on Him to sustain me and be my source of standing, holding greater conviction in the majesty of the Almighty God both raises my confidence and lowers my humility. The more honestly I view Him, the more secure I am. His greatness, is to my benefit.
Whenever I have encountered a deeper level of revelation into the nature of God, where somehow my awe of Him grows greater, if I was to focus then on the disparity between who He is and who I am (or have been), fear consumes me and the attempt to fix myself begins. But when I see His greatness and stand in marvel of His wondrous ways, and let His greatness apply to me and inform me as to who I am, I am undone, weeping and praising. Full of joy and full of worship. For I, who didn’t earn a single thing from the hand of God, have been given access to all who He is, not just to become aware, but to take part in.
And if the greatness of Jesus Christ is my confidence and the love of Him is my humility, then I am scared of no man, and take part with Paul who stands fearless before any because “God shows no partiality.” No meeting with impressive titles or awkwardness in social moments, no lack of preparation or lack of control, can stand against me to intimidate me. For my confidence never required me. Nor my ability to love.
As if, my story started and ended in the love of Jesus Christ.
Peace among men, peace before God.
The Call To More 