When someone believes in me, I begin to develop this audacious belief that maybe there's something inside me worth believing in. Learning this new paradigm takes an action from the outside acting upon me. It is the voice of God, often through another person. Apart from God and others, I cannot become truly confident on my own will. Interdependancy is the way God designed us. He bestows confidence upon us. We aren't able to somehow generate it of our own accord. Thus, it turns into a gift instead of a self-generated commodity. So much more enjoyable.
In thinking further about this, it occurred to me that there are so many of those around us who need us to believe in them too. Thus, when I believe in someone, they have the opportunity to develop this audacious belief that maybe there's something inside them worth believing in. In fact, 1 Peter 4:11 says that when we speak to each other that we should speak to others as though our words are the very words of God to them. Wow! Our words are so powerful because they carry the weight of God. In this way, it is really God who believes in them through us.
I think the trick here is to embrace both. We can't go around demanding that others believe in us and not eventually risk returning the favor to those who need affirmation. Nor can we go around believing in others all the time and fail to let trusted others know that we need them to believe in us as well. The first requires selflessness and risk. The second requires vulnerability. Selflessness, risk, and vulnerability require courage. It is scary.
No comments:
Post a Comment