#1229. Good and bad confidence (17/2/25)

Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional (Posted each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) as we continue in our Luke, Exploring Who Jesus is series.

From Luke 18:9, we reflect on whether we are self-confident or humbly trusting in God and His grace.

Luke 18:9

You can listen to this devotional below (It’s also available on Spotify on the Community Church Putney podcast)

https://youtu.be/PDPIMW6SCHA

‘To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable…’ (Luke 18:9)

Luke 18:9

We live in a world where many people identify as 'spiritual' or even as Christians, yet often view spirituality as merely a way to find peace and purpose. For example, according to a poll by IPSOS in 2011, when asked to select which one statement best describes what being a Christian means to them personally, 40% chose 'I try to be a good person' and around a quarter (26%) chose ‘It's how I was brought up'. Around one in six (16%) selected the statement ‘I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour’!

A true relationship with God, however, begins with humility—being willing to humble ourselves and listen to Him. We cannot escape the truth that God is a teacher. We have to learn from Him and submit to His revelation as to His identity, our problems, our needs, His name, how to worship, what He says about relationships, money, etc.

This section begins with Jesus teaching us about the dangers of pride and the importance of humility. We can all become “confident inour own righteousness” and so we all need to listen to Jesus on this.

In our next devotional, we’ll explore the parable that follows. Today, however, I want us to pause and reflect: where does my confidence truly lie? Is my sense of acceptance before God rooted in my own good performance? Or, conversely, is my sense of rejection by God based on my poor performance?

The word ‘confident’ (Greek: peíthō) means to persuade or trust. So, the question for us is this: what persuades me that I’m loved and accepted by God? Sometimes when driving, I encounter the slightly humorous and worrying sign that reads "Weak Bridge," warning me of the maximum weight it can bear. In the same way, what foundation am I trusting to hold the weight of my confidence in God’s love? Paul’s confidence is clearly set out in Galatians:

‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”’ (Galatians 2:20-21)

Galatians 2:20–21

Do I, perhaps unknowingly, ‘set aside the grace of God’ by putting confidence in anything other than Jesus? Do I fully embrace the truth that my righteousness—my right standing with God—does not come "through the law," or through our good deeds?

The self-confident, in essence, declare, ‘Christ died for nothing.’ But the humble rejoice, proclaiming, ‘Christ died for everything!’ They acknowledge, ‘All my sin was nailed to the cross, and now I am free!’ May we live as those who are fully persuaded to stand humbly on the grace of God.

Let’s pray together

“Lord Jesus, forgive me when I’m based my relationship with you upon how I feel, how well I feel I’ve performed, or how well things are going in my life. Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are my righteousness and peace. I put my confidence in you again. Amen.”