Confidence

"I just told myself I could do it"

That was the statement my 9 year old son made when I talked to him about his soccer game. He had a tournament this past weekend out of town. We went to his games on Saturday and then he stayed with his big brother over night and played a game on Sunday morning. They won that game and he played his best game yet and even scored a goal. (The other parents have said that I can not attend anymore games since they won with me not there.) So I asked him about his goal and he explained to me how he was set up to receive a corner kick. The ball came all the way through everyone right in front of him and he ran right into it and scored.

Now here is the significance of it. His team has practiced that all year long and no one has scored off it yet. He and I have worked on it in the back yard and he seldom scores. I have been telling him lately about the importance of playing with confidence. I explained to him that he needs to approach every minute of his game thinking that he is going to do the right thing and that he is going to be successful. When I left him Saturday night, I was giving him some last minute encouragement and coaching and began to tell him to play with confidence. I asked, "Do you understand?" He replied, "Yes sir. Tell myself that I am going to do it."

I can't tell you how proud that made me. Not of myself and the great job I had done communicating that truth to him. But my pride was in him because he got it. And when he told me on the phone Sunday that he scored and that he did it with confidence, I nearly burst with joy.

So what? What part of your life is lacking confidence? What is it that you need to accomplish but you are just not sure you can? No, I am not saying just put your mind to it and you can. That's just not true. However, when we approach life with the attitude of "I know how this works, I have been trained to do it, I have practiced it, I can do it," we will find ourselves being more successful and, better yet, more fulfilled.

If you need a little extra boost, check out what the Apostle Paul told the church in Philippi.
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6 NLT