How to Live Confidently
We are always confident.--II Cor. 5:6.
Many people today, harassed by fears and anxieties, are searching for the secret of having peace of mind and living confidently. Paul discovered the secret long ago. He lived confidently. What was his secret?
- There is the problem of sin and a guilty conscience. Consciousness of guilt makes one nervous, restless, uneasy. You can’t live confidently haunted by the spectre of guilt. Over against this problem Paul placed the gospel of Divine forgiveness through Christ. Christ creases from sin and frees the soul from guilt.
- Over against the problem of trouble and suffering, Paul puts a wise, good Father who overrules all things for the highest good of His children, declaring, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” His plans were often changed by one adverse circumstance or another. He endured all manner of hardships and suffered the companionship and help of God, and had come to see the working of divine grace and wisdom in all that befell him. So he could say, “Therefore we are always confident.”
- The fear of death can disquiet us and take away our confidence. Over against this fear, Paul puts the eternal home of the soul. He declares: “I know that if this earthly tent of mine is taken down, I get a home from God, made by no human hands, eternal in the heavens” (Cor. 5:1, Moffatt). He faced death many times, but death had no terror for him--this gleaming vision of the eternal home of the soul had robbed death of its ugliness and horror. He knew that this life was a very uncertain thing, but he knew that not even death could “separate us from the love of God in Christ.” and so again, facing this last great enemy, he could say, “Therefore we are always confident.”
This great apostle sounded to the deepest depths the problems of life and death, and he found nothing to be afraid of. May it be given to you, my friend, to have that faith in God that will enable you to face life’s uncertainties and be always confident--to have that continuing confidence that will carry you through life, fearing nothing and living confidently.
