Stymied by Self-Obsession?

By Rod Anderson, CP Cartoonist Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Just the mention of "self-confidence" can stir an assortment of emotions. It sounds so essential to well-being, doesn't it? Who wouldn't want more self-confidence in his or her life? Actually, quite a few people. Let me explain.

Self-confidence is confidence in "self." Confidence in yourself is very natural. Unless you were raised in an atmosphere of condemnation and criticism, you probably have more than enough self-confidence.

One of the problems with self-confidence is that man was not created by God to be confident of himself. He was created by God to be confident of God. Confidence in God's goodness and love is a far cry from confidence in my ability to handle everything myself. Just because you may feel internal pressure to be "self-sustaining" does not mean God created you to feel that way. You developed that attitude over time, and by nature each of us is prone to embrace that mindset as the dominant feature of our thinking.

On one end of the spectrum is self-confidence, and on the other end is "self-criticism." These "twins" of "self-obsession" are equally naughty and actually dangerous to their "parents." (that would be you and me) What common denominator do we see in these twins? That's right. Both of them are way too caught up with themselves. And that is exactly what gets their parents into such a spiritual and emotional bind.