Confidence

     Recently in my life there have been some people who have been excellent Christian examples. What struck me about them is how confident they could be and how outwardly focused they are. Whenever I go up to talk to them they ask sincerely, "how are you." And you can tell they really want to know and are genuinely interested and concerned. (by outwardly focused I mean concerned about other's and not themselves) It amazed me that they could be so selfless while I was always too concerned about myself to worry about others. And it was consistent. I think it's that they are confident enough in God that they can be secure enough with themselves to reach out. Whenever I start drift and be confident in myself, that I am good enough/nice enough/pretty enough, my own faults will soon become apparent in my eyes. And I will sink into despair and frustration until I finally turn back to God and allow Him to pick me back up again. It's a continuing circle and I praise God that He is patient with me. And all the while there are people I run into that could use a word of encouragement, but I am too busy thinking about myself to worry about them. I know I cannot serve God and myself at the same time. I need to remember that I am God's child and that I don't need to worry about how I act or look in other people's eyes. I need to remember that by putting myself down, I am putting down one of God's own creations. Not that I am good enough but that God is good enough.