Live In Confidence

In order to live a confident and positive life we must be sure of who we are. I know who I am because I know who God is. Because I know God, I know how He wants me to treat others. He wants me to operate in the Spirit and exhibit the fruits of the Spirit as found in Galatians 5:22,23.  Because I believe, I live by the power of The Holy Spirit in my life.

In Galatians 2:19-21 Paul, who was brought up and educated in the Jewish Faith, says “For when I tried to keep the law, I realized I could never earn God’s approval. So I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in The Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.” The law is the Old Testament covenant. The 10 Commandments given to Moses, as written in Exodus, are a guideline for our lives. We cannot be saved by trying to obey the law. There is no perfect person. Christ was God’s plan for salvation from the beginning and the only perfect person. He came to us as sinless man to die for our sins. By believing in Christ, God has made us righteous because as believers He sees us through Christ’s righteousness.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

Christ, living in us, gives us the power to live confident lives. As this confidence manifests itself in us we can lift up and edify others.
A confident person knows:
1) I belong and am accepted
2) I am worthy and of value
3) I am competent and believe in myself

As Christ has given us confidence in ourselves, we must help others to believe these things about themselves, especially our children. We must live by example and always encourage others as we praise them, edify them, and pass on our faith to them. We will see them grow in their own confidence and faith.

As we prepare for Easter, let us prepare our hearts to love others as Christ has loved us.
The two commandments which Christ gave to us in The New Testament are found in Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus said “You must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”. May Christ work in us and through us as we love Him and others.