You hear it from coaches, in movies, and from motivational speakers. To encourage you to accomplish great things, they say you must “BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.” It sounds cool and gets you pumped up, but for the Christ-follower, it is a subtle lie that can lead to destruction.

The process is this: You believe in yourself and attempt something and fail. It leads to discouragement and depression.

You believe in yourself and accomplish something, you become confident in your abilities and forget that God gave you the talents. This attitude leads you away from God and produces arrogance and pride, which leads to self-worship, which is idolatry and ends in destruction.

While the motive is good, and sentiments are sincere, the lie is still there crouching around the corner. Instead of believing in yourself, the follower of Christ is to believe in Jesus and the work He has done for you, wants to do in you and through you.

Jesus told us to follow Him means we deny and lose ourselves in Him and then we would find our lives.  

This does not mean to think poorly of yourself.  Remember, you are created in the image of God, and He does marvelous work. Believe in His work in and through you and let Him do great things.