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Aug 01, 2023 06:00am

Holy Confidence Matters

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

Talk Time

Think of good qualities…tell me what they are!

Now, think of something you struggle with liking about yourself. What is it?

Bible Connection

Though we have many good qualities, we sometimes get stuck on what we perceive as “flaws” – things we don’t like about ourselves, things that make us different from others, or things that others may ridicule. Sometimes, we can focus on our negatives so much, it can make us sad or insecure. It might even cause us to wonder why God would make us this way. But, God wants us to know a few reasons why He made us the way He did.

God made you special and unique, specifically different from others.

In fact, the Bible says that He knit us together inside our mamas intentionally, adding in your mother and father’s DNA, and even some gifts and talents from God Himself. And you know what? God calls us masterpieces; Psalm 139:14 says we are made in an amazing and wonderful way.

Can you think of some good things you got from your mom? Your dad? From God?

God made you in a way He could demonstrate His power and strength.

In John 9, Jesus and His disciples were walking past a man who was born blind. Jesus‘ disciples asked Jesus why this happened. Jesus said, “This man was born blind so that God’s power could be shown in him.” What you may call a “flaw”, is an opportunity for you to lean on God for help, trust Him with it, and live in holy confidence despite it. Not only that, you would be a witness to others who also struggle with their flaws and shortcomings. God has a plan for you – a plan for Him to be big in your life if you will trust Him with your insecurities.

For more about this story, read John 9:1-6 to find out the very unique way that Jesus healed this man.

Paul, the apostle, also struggled with an area in his life, one that he begged God to change. God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a). Instead of getting upset that God didn’t change him in the way that he wanted, Paul was encouraged and rose to the challenge by saying, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (1 Corinthians 12:9b-10).

What if we had the same perspective shift as Paul? He became one of the most powerful missionaries of all time…if he could trust God with his weakness, imagine what God can do through us when we trust Him with ours!

God is after a relationship with us.

Not only is God our Father, but He is also our Savior, our Helper, our Counselor, and our Strength. The more we spend time with Him, the more we deepen our relationship…and that, friends, is exactly what He wants. He made us in such a way that we would need Him. God invites us to share our struggles, openly and honestly with Him. While He already knows, sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is expose that struggle to the light and be willing to share hard things with Him. This is relationship! The closer we grow to God, the stronger our confidence can grow in who He made us and how He made us.

Faith Connection

It can be so easy to get frustrated when we are different from others, but our differences can be opportunities for God to be even bigger in our lives. Trusting Him is the key! It’s hard for us to trust someone we don’t know. Getting to know God by spending time with Him in prayer and in His Word will help grow our trust for Him, especially in the times He says “no” to our prayers.

Turning Psalm 139 into a prayer can help us get started: “Thank you God for making me this way. Open my eyes to the amazing ways you knit me together, and help me to accept the areas I don’t love. Be strong where I am weak, Lord. Help me trust you so that I can live my life in holy confidence.