No Help in Self-Help                                    Feb. 3, 2005

"Have no confidence in the flesh." If this text was believed by God's people, the sale of self-help material such as tapes, books, and videos, would drop off drastically. Also, attendance at seminars would be nil. Go-getting Paul said he had more reason to put confidence in himself than others did, but refused to do so.

It is futile to tell a shepherd boy to have self-confidence when facing a ten-foot giant! It may work in a seminar, but never when you have to put it into practice. "I come to you in the name of the Lord," is the only thing that will work when you come face to face with life's giants.

In the Pauline epistles, you'll find the apostle had confidence both in himself as well as others, but it is always qualified by "in the Lord." To trust in anything else is to lean on a bruised reed. But let us be warned; to say "I have no confidence in my flesh," though this may sound commendable, is not good enough. We must continue the sentence with, "My confidence is in the Lord."