you
probably have noticed that your confidence ebbs and flows. it varies greatly from day to day. one day you’re up the next day you’re
down. what is it that causes that?
one of
the things is what is going on inside of you.
1 john 3.21 (niv), if our hearts
do not condemn us, we have confidence before GOD.
notice
the words, “condemn” and “confidence”. you are always walking in one or the other –
in condemnation or in confidence.
so what
causes self condemnation? two things:
#1.
unresolved guilt.
david
said in psalm 32, when i hold my guilt
inside, i’m miserable.
have
you seen the sign that said, a clean engine produces more power? that’s true in humans too.
sir
arthur conan doyle, the man who wrote sherlock holmes, once pulled a prank on
twelve prominent englishmen. he sent them
an anonymous note that said, “all is found out.
flee at once.” within twenty-four hours, eight of those men had left the
country. guilt destroys your
confidence.
#2.
unrealistic expectations.
that's
often called perfectionism, the feeling that i must be flawless, that i must be
perfect, that i must please everybody, that i always have to do more, that i
feel guilty when i relax.
if you’re
a perfectionist, your favorite phrases are, “i should... i must... i ought... i
have to...”
if you’re
an average person, you have three things on your daily to do list. you get one of them done, you leave one of
them unfinished, and the third one you just forget about. you go home and put your feet up at night and
feel good about yourself. if you’re a
perfectionist you have 29 things on your daily to do list. you finish 28 of them and you go home and
feel like a failure.
both
guilt and perfectionism cause a lack of confidence in our lives.
just a
thought from the front porch…
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