The ever-popular life hacks offer us new and improved ways to do daily life. However, God digs a little deeper to shape and correct us from the inside out. Lately, He has been giving me these pithy phrases. I call them God Hacks.
And unlike the life hacks, these phrases make me stand up and take notice. Remember the definition. Pithy: concise and forcefully expressive. Here’s my second truth bomb.
True confidence produces great humility.
Please tell me it’s not just me. But I get so annoyed by the blow-hard braggart who tries to sell me on his fabulous skillset. These people are like Kung Fu Panda saying “There is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness.” Snort. People who boast often doesn’t actually have skills, or certainly not at the level they believes they have, but they attempt to cover the lack with smoke and mirrors. Can we all just agree the more a person grabs the spotlight, acts superior, and name-drops, the more insecure she is?
On the other hand, what do we Christians and other counter-prideful people do instead?
We grovel.
We mistakenly think that the solution to pride is to be a doormat or deny value and expertise. Ouch. Heaven forbid that we just let our work speak for itself. Our results will be a testimony to our level of mastery. Since all of us are constantly growing forward, we look to who we are becoming. Not who we were. Is this needed?
The false humility, aw-shucks posture is almost as annoying as the deluded puffer fish.
So what does God mean by this pithy ditty about authentic confidence and humility?
Let’s look at Jesus. We consider Him to be the most capable and yet the most humble.
There is a world of difference between God-confidence and Self-confidence. The goals are different. The first speaks of dependence on and honor to Someone else, Someone greater. The latter reveals a focus and reliance on self for the good of and the glory of self.
The word confidence means “with faith.” So I don’t know about you, but I want my faith to be in someone bigger and better than myself. I want to level up into Jesus. We wear the wristbands, “What would Jesus do?” and it’s a great question. But make it real.
How would Jesus like to express His life through me for His glory?
Straight talk here. I have done things WITH Jesus that I could never, ever accomplish on my own steam. This beautiful awareness eliminates any question about who gets the credit. Besides if I did try to grab it, Jesus would look at me and say, “Babe, who are we kidding here?”
Enter Great Humility. The more we hang out with heaven and see heaven in action in our very small, little lives, the more we understand the generosity of God. Jesus said in John 17:22-23, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”
Maybe go read that whole John 17 chapter again. It is the perfect breakdown of true confidence produces great humility.
We don’t have to puff up or grovel. We do have to learn how to carry glory.
Here is the final picture God gave me regarding this revelation. In each of us, exists a divine calling and purpose, like a holy acorn. As we encounter the love and truth of God, we grow into a tree. A tree doesn’t take credit for producing fruit, it simply does what it was planted to do. It is grateful for the sun and soil and the good Gardner who makes life possible. As the tree goes through seasons of trials and storms, the roots go deeper into the earth for security and stability..
Grasp the picture. Our confidence grows up and out in God like a tree grows taller and broader. Our humility grows down and strong in God as a tree’s roots drive deeper.
“Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
With Him, we can rock the world.