Be not wise in thine own eyes: Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Confidence in God will produce health and prosperity. Trust in God will produce safety and security. Fear of God will produce favor and blessings. All these things portray wisdom within the person who shows them in their walk. God wants us to give Him everything that He is due. One of the most important things to give God is reverent fear.
We cannot think that we are wiser than God. When we are overconfident and think that we are wise in ourselves, we lose all that God has for us. Self-confidence must be properly focused. Isaiah says the person who is wise in his own eyes and prudent must take care (Isaiah 5:21). Excessive self-confidence inflates the ego.
When someone is extremely self-confident, they look to their own abilities to accomplish whatever they face. Peter confidently told Jesus he would be with Him even unto death (Matthew 26:33). When it came time to stand by Jesus, he denied being with Him. We can never accomplish what God has given us to do in our own strength, even though we may think we can.
Excessive self-confidence leads to pride, and pride will destroy anyone who allows it to live with them. Proverbs tell us that pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). If pride is not replaced with humility, a fall from grace will take place. If we fear God, we will hate evil, pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the forward mouth (Proverbs 8:13).
Challenges to Excessive Self-Confidence.
Sometimes our flesh gets the best of us. Our spirit wants to rely on God for everything we face, but our flesh wants to accommodate itself. This is where self-confidence becomes excessive.
Paul told the Corinthians not to think of themselves as better than others because it encourages excessive self-confidence (1 Corinthians 4:6-7). When God uses us or speaks to us as only He can do, we cannot think we have the power to do anything ourselves. Every gift we possess comes from God and operates because of Him. When we receive from God, it’s a challenge to stay humble.
Jesus instructs us to minister freely because our ministry was given to us at no cost (Matthew 10:7-8). I understand this is a challenge, but with God all things are possible. Our ministries should always be connected to God, who gives us the ability to do what He called us to do.
No one received salvation on their own. Salvation comes through Jesus Christ, and He establishes ministry in us for the world. We become His disciples. We are given permission to do what He did in the world (John 14:12).
The Proper Source of All Confidence.
Jeremiah helps us to understand the proper way to be confident as we walk this Christian journey. In Jeremiah 9:23-24, he tells us that whatever we have, and wherever we find ourselves in life, our focus should be on knowing God for who He is. Our trust should not be in the things we accumulate in this world, but in knowing and doing what God has called us to do. God wants us to rely on Him because He is faithful.
If we want to be blessed, we must not be wise in our own eyes. There is no doubt that God wants to bless all believers. The Scripture expresses the Lord’s blessings for His people in Deuteronomy 28. If we obey His word, we will reap blessings. Many other places in the Bible express this same truth.
John says in 3 John 2, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” We please God through our behavior, obedience to His Word, and love for others. God is happy and will give us strength to live healthy and prosper (Ezra 6:22).