A Frank Discussion on Pride and Confidence

Oh hey there! Long time no blog.

It’s been far too long. I’ve been robbed of the time to blog freely this semester.

                Life, per usual, is an exciting and dynamic blur. Each day develops organically and brings new surprises and developments, and God never ceases to surprise me with new angles of insights.

  

              To fill in the gap from the last three months, here are some highlights—

--Learning Chinese is the most rewarding headache I’ve ever had—one semester down, a lifetime to go!

--Working on a start-up company with friends is setting the stage for a very exciting spring semester.

--Running a blog for OU’s student government keeps me all over campus—from campus-wide “go green” initiatives to state-wide food drives, maintaining the blog keeps me attached to the daily events of OU.

--Raising the newest pledge class of BYX has been an awesome experience, and I’m proud of the tangible growth I’ve seen nearly 70 young men go through.

--My “No-Shave-November” beard actually accomplished “beard” status this year.

--After gaining admittance to the Honors College, I’ve started my first research paper. I don’t know if *anyone* reading can relate to what I’m about to say, but I’m very, very excited for the journey that’s already begun with the paper, including engaging Professor Alexander Holmes in deep academic conversations of ethics.

                It’s hard to give an accurate view of three months in snapshot-style blurbs, so I want to give you something that’s been on my heart lately. I want to talk about pride and confidence: the former of which I struggle with, the latter of which I hope you all seek to foster in yourselves.

Pride is a fickle thing.

I’d like to think that I’m good at regulating my pride—but since I’m hardly unbiased, I’m not making a strong statement.

Something I can state firmly, however, is that an important line between the definitions of “confidence” and “pride” has begun to blur in the past couple decades. While these words are *generally* the same, there are important distinctions that must be made.

Why is this important? Because I believe understanding the difference is a huge step for Christians to take in utilizing their God-given gifts.

Let’s start with pride. I can tell you from experience that it can be a stumbling block in anyone’s life—and it is a block in many lives. Our culture has been churning out movies and TV shows for several generations now that reinforce the concept that we all are the center of our own little universe.

Don’t believe me? DVR a Jersey Shore re-run. Pop in a Disney movie. (Not that I’m hating. Hercules will always be my favorite Disney movie, hands down.)

So why’s it an issue?

Pride isn’t the worst issue we could have in our lives. In fact, pride normally is the byproduct of many good things in our lives— like success, love and meeting our aspirations, amongst other things. Somewhere along the parade of our own accomplishments, however, we’ll encounter a tiny, inaudible little voice in our head that says—

“Well, look at all these things that   I  have done.”

And just like that, a seed is planted in our hearts.

“Look at what  I  have done. Look at the success in my life and how  I  did it, all by myself, without help from anyone.”

And the tirade doesn’t stop there. It continues. Before we know it, we’re subconsciously claiming credit for every good thing that has every happened in our life.

Pride denies the idea that God gives us gifts. Pride claims that we’re all self-made men who develop our own talents. Pride dismisses humility, does not acknowledge meek behavior and disregards the idea of crediting anything to others.

But let me re-emphasize the most important part of that again.

Pride denies the idea that God gives us gifts.

Now let’s talk about why confidence is different.

Where pride says “I know I’m responsible for the gifts in my life,” confidence says “I know I have gifts in my life, and I’m going to use them intentionally.” It’s being bold with the gifts God has given us, and not being afraid to stretch ourselves to see those gifts further realized. Confidence sharpens us, makes us more intentional and spurs us to do big things with our lives.

So why does the difference matter?

My confidence has sky rocketed the past year and a half. After being mentored and groomed by student and faculty leaders, I am beginning to develop a very keen awareness of where my strengths lie and how to use them effectively. I still periodically struggle with pride, and for the longest time I tried to find a balance, swinging between utter narcissism and the absence of any confidence.

But here’s some scripture that got me thinking.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:6-8

This is the conclusion I came to after several weeks.

We should be bold, confident and unafraid to pursue excellence in the areas we are gifted. We are not blessed with talents so that we can sit on, hide or belittle them. We need to acknowledge our talents and skills so we can develop them, and use them for God’s glorification. Confidence is good for us!

However, this all must be framed in a bigger picture. We need to be confident in our God-given gifts, but retain the humility to never forget that they’re God-given.

(^^*cough* Take-home point *cough*^^)

So yeah. Be confident, not prideful; bold, not narcissistic; and never forget that we were designed for a purpose.

Hopefully this blog has given my friend's parents from my home church in Tulsa an update on my life (That's right-- my mom has told me which ones of you read this!), and given my college friends a ten minute break from studying. (Trust me-- you need the break.)

Love y’all, Thanks for reading, and T-minus 20 days until CHRISTMAS!

Nathan Robertson

P.S.

For more reading on the importance of investing in your spiritual gifts, read the parable in Matthew 25:14-30    #RealTalk #JesusTalk

 P.P.S. 

Did I mention only 20 days until Christmas? Oh I did? Ok good. Just reminding you.