Confidence

Recently I walked into a group of teachers and began very timidly to express my ideas for revamping the entire department's instructional strategies. It was a feeble attempt at confidence if I ever saw one. Later that week I walk into a meeting with a much larger group of teachers and began very confidently directing a meeting in which I communicated my expectations and required deadlines for them to adhere to.

The difference????
In the first meeting, I was sharing my ideas with nothing behind me but my opinion. In the second meeting, I was communicating by the request of the principal the directives she wished. Why was I confident? Because if they didn't like it, it wasn't on me. It was backed up by a bigger authority.

If I could just remember that I was acting by the will and pleasure of God, then maybe I would be as confident as I was communicating for my principal.
Sociologists tell us that our self-esteem is based on what we believe the most important person in our life thinks about us.

Confidence is only as good as the one in whom you place your confidence.
Am I confident b/c I am pretty? What if get in a car wreck? Am I confident b/c I am smart? What if I am in a room of PhDs? Am I confident b/c people like me? What about when they stop?
People who are truly confident consistently even when "out matched" are not self-confident but God-confident.