“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV)
Have you ever thrown away your confidence? One night I was cleaning our kitchen and found this little rubber thingy on our counter top. It wasn’t until after I threw it away that I realized it was the power button for our TV remote control. As I dug through the trash to find it, I sensed God showing me that’s how easily I throw away my confidence—without recognizing it.
It’s usually very subtle. Sometimes I’ll be thinking about something I want to do or sense God calling me to, and a feeling of uncertainty comes over me and whispers to my heart, You can’t do that. You’re not good enough. Out of the blue, I’ll just get that awful, insecure feeling.
Too many times in the past I’ve gone along with it, tossing my confidence into the trash without even thinking.
So, maybe I should ask again. Have you ever thrown away your confidence?
We throw away our confidence each time we say negative things to ourselves. We trash our security when we allow accusation and condemnation from others to define us. And it breaks God heart.
Can I share an important message and invitation with you? It’ll only take 3 minutes, but it’s the most important part of today’s post. And it’s part of today’s give-away, too. Please click the arrow to watch.
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Renee Swope – A Confident Heart Book Trailer from SoundPost Productions on Vimeo.
(If you’re reading this post via email, please click here to view my book trailer)
Can you tell I’m a little passionate about sharing this message with you. It’s because I want you to experience the freedom and confidence Jesus gave this girl – freedom I’d never known – freedom that came as I learned to live in the power and security of God’s promises!
I know what it’s like to feel stuck in a cycle of defeat. I know how much “hopeless” hurts.
As I wrote A Confident Heart, I looked back and saw a pattern in my thinking that led to the pattern of my doubting. And those patterns led me to trash my security and become paralyzed with self-doubt.
But over time, I learned that I could ask God to show me when I’m tempted to throw away my confidence and then help me throw away my insecurities instead.
• When self-doubt whispers, “I can’t do that. I’m going to fail and look foolish.” I’ve learned to throw away that lie away and hold onto this truth (sometimes I even say it out loud): “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, NIV 1984)
• When self-doubt whispers, “I’ll never change.” I throw away that lie away and claim this truth: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in [me] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, NASB)
• When self-doubt whispers, “This is too hard for me. I don’t have what it takes to…” I toss that thought and hold onto this truth: “No, in all these things [I am] more than a [conqueror] through him who loved [me].” (Romans 8:37, NIV)
Oh friends, how I long for you to join me in living with A Confident Heart. I want your life to be transformed through the Truths God engraved on my soul to share with you in each chapter.
That is why we’re praying over each book and each person who reads it, asking Jesus to use His words on each page to change your life as you read them. To make hope rise again in your heart. To bring encouragement where discouragement has settled. And set you free from any and all cycles of doubt and defeat so you can live with A Confident Heart!
Will you pray with me? Lord, I want to become a woman with a confident heart in Christ. Will you help me recognize when I throw away my confidence, and remind me to throw away my insecurities instead? I want to persevere in Your truth so that when I have done Your will, I will receive what You have promised. When doubt or insecurity tells me I can’t do something, I will remember that all things are possible to her who believes. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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A Confident Heart Give-Away
Enter to win 3 copies of A Confident Heart as well as a gift card and my message, “Don’t Throw Away Your Confidence” on CD- by clicking on “Share Your Thoughts” below. I’d love to know one thing in the book trailer or in my P31 devotion that you could identify with, also is there someone or somewhere you’ll share today’s post? We’d love for others to hear about A Confident Heart through you! And to make it easy, there are “Tell A Friend” buttons just below this post.
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Last week’s winners of the “Contagious Confidence” winners
which include a copy of “A Confident Heart” along with “Confident Heart” sticky notes that have quotes and promise from my book and Starbucks gift cards are: Kelli Wommack, Debra and Stephanie Melton. We’ve got your email from your comments so we’ll be in touch to get your address.
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I am really excited to read the Confident heart! I struggle on a daily basis with feelings of doubt and inadequacy. I do not feel that it is an accident that I came across your website, I truly feel that there is a definite reason God would have me to read this book!! I can” wait to get a copy.
I think we all can relate to this in one way or another. I look forward to reading your book so I can share your message with other women! Thanks for having the courage to step out and share your story with the world, Renee!!
Love the idea of consciously “capturing” each self-doubt and replacing it immediately with scripture. This has encouraged me to do the same. Thank you for the inspiration!
Lacking confidence? I identify with doubting my husband’s faithfulness…his love even. Unfortunately, those feelings still creep in after 17 years of marriage. I doubt God’s love for me sometimes, too. Yes, I feel that He tolerates me. I’ve done a few acceptable things, but I keep messing up. I often wonder why He doesn’t destroy me now because I’m such a Christian failure. I believe that some of my insecurities stem from a past experience – I was a Jehovah’s Witness for seven years (and associated with them for a few more years). I know that I’m on the “performance tredmill,” and it’s really hard to get off of it and stay off. I believe your book will be helpful to people like me…as well as all the others who have commented already. Thank you! May Jehovah bless you and allow you to continue ministering to a hurting and suffering people!
Good Morning! You must have been in my bathroom this am as I saw my huge shadow (My husband of 15 years told me that he did not want to celebrate our upcoming wedding anniversary…) My shadow is a result of my not releasing the facade of control in our marriage. Thank you so much for reminding me to turn back to the light, My God…not to Self!!! I think your book will definitely be God-sent to us shadow people reminding us of the truth…that we are children of the Light(our God)…may you be blessed as well as you walk in the Light. I look forward to reading your book as well as sharing it with my pre-teen daughter …have a bright day!
I never win at anything. I have lost at love, family, friendships, career, and yet through all this I somehow teach my children to win and lose with grace. How is it possible to teach my blessings something that I apparently doubt? Society makes me believe that as a single mom I am not worthy and it would seem that I have bought into this mentality. I know I have Christ in my life, esp when I slow down and look, but I don’t often do that. I believe my children are His gift to me and I appreciate that God is in the whisper of the wind, not necessarily in the rumble of the thunder. But my life seems to be a lot of thunder and rain lately, so it is a little hard to find God. At least I am still looking to Him. I signed up for the 7-Day Doubt Diet and am looking forward to changing my thought process from me oriented to believing in the One who made me beautiful.
Regarding self doubt and this is to hard for me. I have entertained that thought for the last several years. There was trouble with my marriage and there was never a day that went by that I thought I would not be able to make it. This verse among many more was my constant companion. I had it written on a piece of paper I carried in my pocket. God was extremly gracious and healed my home. Then satan decided to try and uproot me again. My 18 year old told me she was pregnant and the thoughts came like a flood. God why is this happening? Dont you love me? I cant handle anymore God, please make it stop!
Through all of this I could hear a voice saying, “I love you. Lean on me and listen to what I tell you. You are my child and I will give you everything you need.” I have held onto that because I know Satan will try to take all peace and self confidence out of you. We must remember, NO ONE IS GREATER THAN OUR GOD!
A lot of things I have set out to do, confident and gifted, have been rejected by man.
I know God is in control, and need to let those bad times go.
Others I know have had similar experiences.
I would love to read the book and pass it on.
I’m looking forward to reading and sharing the book. It’s been a struggle to get a resume together and job searching since it’s been over 10 yrs since I’ve worked on one. I can see my lack of confidence has affected my decisions and I sometimes battle the “what ifs” that are so dangerous bc they can lead to depressing thoughts. Doubts about mothering 2 young ones with multiple food allergies has also taken its toll. Somehow finding meaningful work that will accomodate their needs and schedules has become so daunting. I am reminded by your post that the battle is in the mind and what better weapon than the sword of the Spirit. Thanks for the reminder.
For so long I have battled depression. I found the Lord just about 2 years ago now, He has been amazing in turning my life around, but still I find myself falling into those awful thought processes that would bring me so far down into the pits…Thank God He is there to whisper my name before I hit the bottom again. I so need to read this book, every time I pick it up I just cry…is this because I am afraid or is it because I am hopeful…I really would like to share it with my daughter who sadly takes after her mom, hoping and praying that she can reach out for the Lord’s Saving Grace and Mercy long before the 43 years it took me. I am rambling, I did order another copy and can’t wait to be able to share it with her…
I had an “aha” moment when you made the connection of self doubt to worry and anxiety. Praying for God to give me the eyes to see when I do that. I hope to read and learn more about it. Thank you kindly!
This book is meaning so much to me. I’ve always thought of myself as “confident” and I am in some ways but I have also done many of the things you mention in the book, such as pulling away from others when I am disappointed in them or myself, finding my worth in how I perform on any given day, being a horrible perfectionist and beating myself up when I can’t be perfect. I have not even considered my talents as being terribly worthy. And yet I have known that God made me this way. He gave me my strengths. I have even cried out to him for help because I cannot stop being who I am. A person who is so un-perfect but who tries so hard to live up to all that she thinks she should be. I see that this is a recipe for disaster and disappointment. I realize now that God did make me who I am and that this is something to be embraced. Although I have no idea what the deepest desires of my heart are, God knows what he has in store for me and why he made me to be who I am with all my strengths and weaknesses. I am hopeful that I will stop beating myself up so much and that I will look to God every day for help and that I will come to understand what it is he wants me to learn and who he wants me to become. Thanks for starting me on this road.
The Little Princess has laid her crown down at the feet of Jesus.
When I look back, at those words I heard as I was growing up I took in all those things that was said, “you can’t”, “you will fail”, “you are not good enough”, and “you are not worthy”. Some things was due to struggles I had in school. Some things were asinuated by family members, who probably did not realize the harm it was doing. I cannot remember a time I ever felt secure, really loved, and don’t even say the word “confident”, that word does not even exist in my vocabulary. There were times I felt very lonely, rolled up in a ball in my bed at night and cried, wondering what was the purpose of living since I was not any good anyway.
There use to be a saying “sticks and stones will break you bones, but words will never hurt me”. Actually, words can hurt, but there are also words, God’s words that can encourage, uplift and give us hope. He gives us a purpose for living and hope Jermiah 29:11.
Total dependence on God means changing our way to His purposes, His plans, giving my thoughts, my feelings, and my inner lack of confidence over to Him. It is sometimes a struggle, but I want to hold on to His promises, trust Him and rely on Him for my security and confidence.
I would like to share your book in a Bible study at my church and share with other ladies. Thank you for your encouragement. in Christ
Hello- I am SO grateful for all you have been sharing about your book. I have been sharing everthing to my friends and family on facebook. Lots of them have been enjoying it. I pray everyday to grow with God and for His will to be done in my life. We have recently moved to utah for my husbands job. At first it was REALLY hard. I knew in my heart that our Lord moved us here for a reason. But my fear was over coming my thoughts. By trusting God and His plans, it has become amazing. My husband, children and I have been able to witness to many others. God is so GOOD! Everyday I remind myself “With God all things are possible”. Everyday day I pray to be a light and salt to thee earth. I know your book would be truly encouraging. Thank you for all you do. May God bless you in all you. With Love Shawnia. Phil.4:13
I have shared this with a friend who works with prison inmates here in Nashville. last week we were talking about how one of the inmates just doesn’t feel worthy of God’s love. I told her of my new book, A Confident Heart, and your devotions about getting rid of the doubt of not being good enough. We both talked about how sad it is that women struggle with not being worthy of many things, but especially God’s love. I just received my new book and cannot wait to dig into it. I am praying that the doubt I have had all my life will be overcome and that I am able to share a Confident Heart of grace and mercy with others who are also struggling. Thank you for your beautiful words!
Renee, thank you so much for your obedience to the Lord through writing this book. I have a debilitating issue with self doubt in practically every area of my life. From relationships to my career, self doubt always seems to creep up and rear its ugly head, sabatoging many things that could have/would have been very beautiful and successful. I am a Christ follower and believe every word in the Bible 110% but there seems to be some sort of disconnect between reading the words of hope contained in passages such as Hebrews 13:6, Philippians 1:6, and Romans 8:37 and actually applying and whole-heartedly believing them when it comes to me specifically. My prayer is that from reading your book, the Lord will help me overcome this obstacle in my life and will deliver me from my sin of self doubt. I absolutely know He can and is able! Thank you, Renee!
I’d have to say that the not feeling smart enough/capable is a problem for me. And I’m not so sure if it’s myself feeling that way, or the feeling that others view me that way. Doubts about being capable of doing things have definitely kept me from stepping forward on more than one occasion. As I process through this lost, it’s actually a fear of failure that best describes what holds me back. And what failure might look like has as many different faces as the situations/opportunities I’ve avoided because of the fear.
Hi, “Confidence”? Its a word in the dictionary…You mentioned growing up with fears and doubt…I think that has been my middle name. So many things I missed out on from fear and doubt. I have worked to overcome it but I still seem to wrestle with doubting that I’m a very nice person. Just recently I was upset at someone who carelessly caused damage to something of mine. I felt as though I am a rotten person for having such thoughts. It spirals down to “what kind of Christian are you? A no good one, that’s what!” And the beat goes on… It makes me feel like I just want to hide, that I can’t handle things and be what I’m supposed to be. Confidence? No, not really. May God become my confidence as I grow in the knowledge of His love for me. Thank you…
I always feel like I’m not good enough and would like to change that to having a God-fident heart!
I deal with self-doubt all the time………and I’m way too old to still be carrying these things……..I want to unload this very old baggage and move on with the confidence that being a child of God can bring and I want it to become a part of who I am………not just something that I come across for a season and then at the first turn……it’s gone because someone said something that hurt/angered/defeated me.