Proud or Confident: do both lead to the fall?

Growing spiritually on the blog this year has taken on the life of emotions, specifically what we can we learn about them from the Bible. We’ve looked at emotions such as joy and envy as well as God’s emotions. Today we will look at confidence and pride.

Like many emotions, I think we experience pride on a continuum. For example, we may describe our anger from being irritated to furious. Perhaps we would say that pride ranges from humility to arrogance. We may say the same about confidence, describing someone as having low self-esteem to someone who is cocky or overconfident. Cocky or overconfident is often associated with arrogance, the words tend to move toward synonyms on that part of the continuum. We also know that the Bible tells us to be strong and courageous while also pride comes before the fall. So where do we draw the line between appropriate confidence and pride?

Confidence and pride

2 Chronicles 26 recounts the reign of Uzziah, beginning in verse 5, we see that ‘As long as he sought the Lord, god gave him success.’ The following verses describe an incredible amount of success, from wars to inventions and increasing livestock, Uzziah was blessed. Then in verse 16, we see ‘But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God…’. We have similar ideas in Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ These two passages show us that it is our confidence in Christ that lends us confidence. When that confidence is solely in ourselves and no longer in the understanding that God works in and through us, we fall to pride.

I was recently offered some feedback that challenged me, was I prideful? So, I wanted to do this study and recall what pride is and is not. What is confidence and working with God and not just for him? How have I viewed the successes of late? Am I giving God the glory, or am I expecting the glory for myself? Have I heard his guidance or am I running off course and doing this on my own? I’m not sure I have an answer, as I need to continue to pray and reflect on it all. I know I love the Lord and would give it all up if what I do is not bringing him glory.

Turn your eyes to Jesus

By keeping our eyes on the One who works all things, we can be certain that our confidence is healthy rather than having fallen toward the sin of pride. As in so many other verses, we are told to seek his kingdom first and then we will be given all that is sufficient for our lives (Matt 6:33). Remembering that Christ leads and triumphs in everything we do or accomplish will keep us in our right place.