Confidence, But Without the Ego

There’s nothing worse than trying to have a conversation with someone who thinks they know everything. It’s a one-sided discussion and they don’t seem to care about your thoughts. In their mind, they are right and they have no desire to hear otherwise. Frustrating nonetheless. You feel like, why did I even bother?

I was in a meeting recently and the presenter had quite the ego. Quickly offering their opinion, blaming others for minor inconveniences, and offering a tone that didn’t come across as friendly. I didn’t even know this person other than as an acquaintance, but I instantly knew I didn’t care for them. I didn’t want to be around them. Just the time spent in the meeting was enough to turn me away.

We can positively think of ourselves without projecting a selfish ego on others. As we’ve learned in the first two chapters of Philippians, living with a sense of thankfulness and humility can not only positively impact those around us, but it can bring us true joy. Not joy that wavers based on the stock market or how much we saved at the grocery store, even though that can be big.

Philippians 3: 1-21, NIV

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Paul speaks in this chapter with much confidence. But it’s not in himself. Paul knows he couldn’t have gotten through what he’s been through without the power of Christ living inside of him. Paul considers his relationship with Jesus to be more important than any accolades or wins. Why? Because Paul knew and believed in the resurrection of Jesus.

We don’t need the Easter season to roll around multiple times a year to celebrate the hope of the resurrection. The reality is that Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. For the promise of Heaven that conquers hell. That eternal worship celebration that will continue long after our time on earth will be done. It’s available to you just like it is to me.

We admit Jesus died for our sins.

We believe that Jesus is God’s Son.

We confess we aren’t perfect and want to be whole in Him.

That, my friends, is the Gospel. That is something worth being confident in. Something worth sharing with those around you. It’s a matter of life and death. It’s vital to our being.

We are not home yet. As Christians, our eternal home is Heaven. So this life we are living and experiencing, while many aspects of it are good, nothing compares to what we will experience for eternity. Be aware of those tactics the enemy will try to use to take you down. Be mindful of the enemy’s schemes to take your focus off of living a Christ-like life. Live with the confidence of Christ, not confidence in yourself. For that will be a joyful life that draws others toward eternity.