No Confidence in the Flesh

Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭3b‬-‭7,‬ ‭ESV‬‬

and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

We often talk about the fact that we are supposed to put our confidence in God in the places where we are weak, but there’s another side to this idea which we talk about less—that we are also to put our confidence in God in the areas where we are strong.

Our confidence must remain in God and God alone—where we’re weak and where we’re strong.

The Greek word translated confidence in the NT comes from the same root word used in the words faith and trust.

So when we are confident in ourselves, then our faith and trust are placed in ourselves.

And that’s not what we want. 

We want our faith and trust placed firmly in God.

This doesn’t mean that we are to deny or discredit our gifts and talents. On the contrary, to deny and discredit our gifts and talents is to dishonor God and the gifts He’s given us. 

So how, then, do we recognize that we are gifted in something or privileged in some way without placing our confidence there?

By continually setting our heart on God—in honor, in gratitude, and in awareness of need. 

We must be continually aware that within every gift we’ve been given, we are still 100% reliant upon the One who gave it. 

What He gives, He can take away. 

What He gives is only as effective as it is empowered by His Spirit. 

And what He gives matters little if He is not honored through it.

Oh Lord, thank You that You give us strengths and gifts, which You use in and through our lives. Please help us to always remember that those things are not only given by You, but also empowered through You, that our confidence would not be in them, but in You. Amen.