5 Tips for Confidence in a New Season by Gary Steffes

Every season, we as competitors fight to overcome:

• The fear of failure and what others think
• Insecurity
• Comparison traps
• Performance anxiety
• Discouragement

As Competitors for Christ we want to WIN against every one of these challenges. Thankfully, by God's grace, it's possible!

God has given us everything we need as Competitors for Christ to live a godly, victorious life. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us as believers
(2 Peter 1:3, Romans 8:9-13, Philippians 4:13). There is no fear, anxiety, discouragement, insecurity, or critic too difficult for the Lord to overcome. We can ATTACK the confidence battle with courage and boldness! No Competitor needs to suffer any longer as a slave to fear and insecurity.

This season, let's stop repeating old patterns of insecurity, anxiety, and fear. Here are 5 Tips for Confidence in the upcoming season.

Strong confidence starts in the HEART. In Mark 12:30, Jesus says, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

I believe the order matters. Heart - Soul - Mind - Strength. Jesus calls for an Inside Out love relationship with God.

I believe the same order applies to our pursuit of confidence. When we win in the heart FIRST, we remain intimately connected to Jesus Christ, the Power Source, and we guard it against enemies like pride, unforgiveness, bitterness, and idolatry, all of which destroy confidence. Sadly, many competitors never deal with what is happening inside their heart. They avoid it. As a result, they become Outside-In athletes. They pursue confidence in reverse order (Strength - Mind - Soul - Heart). They become consumed by their performance and what others think. The root causes never get dealt with, so their confidence battles keep coming back. Their confidence suffers.

The "Inside Out" athlete is different. They win in the heart FIRST. They are consumed by who God declares them be and with using their sport to make an eternal impact. Once they win in the heart, they then win in the soul by surrendering their will to the Lord and processing their emotions. From there, they win in their mind by taking thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Lastly, they execute outwardly by competing for Christ with all their strength.

Confidence issues are never cured with an Outside In approach. Strong confidence happens when we become Inside Out.

The first step to winning in the heart is to go on OFFENSE by remaining intimately connected to Jesus Christ. He is the Power Source. Apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:4-5).

As followers of Jesus Christ, we remain intimately connected to Christ by:

• Establishing non-negotiable TIME with Jesus daily. It is as important as breathing. 
• Keeping short account with sin. (1 John 1:9).
• Abiding in Christ everywhere we go and in everything we do. Apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 15:4-5).

If you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, you can surrender your life to Him today. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10, 13).

The next step in winning in the heart is playing strong DEFENSE by guarding our heart from enemies. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Strong confidence requires us to guard our heart from enemies like pride, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy, guilt, and entitlement. To win, we must refuse to let these enemies establish strongholds.

Download a FREE resource below to win against Enemies of the Heart.

As Competitors for Christ, we are not defined by our performance and what others think. We are who God declares us to be! To have strong confidence, we must rewire the neuropathways in our brain to stand upon God's promises in every circumstance.

When we know who God declares us to be, we will compete FROM significance not FOR significance. We compete free. Our confidence increases.

Download a FREE Identity in Christ PDF below to start standing upon God's promises..

The WHY behind the WHAT matters. Our WHY is our motivation in the face of discouragement, fear, and trial. Our WHY drives us to get out of bed when we are exhausted, stay focused when we are distracted, and keep pursuing our vision when we want to give up.

Sadly, many athletes compete only for themselves -- their name, their future, their glory and kingdom.

As Competitors for Christ, the love of Christ compels us to no longer compete for ourselves but for Christ who died and rose again on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). We compete for a purpose far bigger than ourselves.

What is your Why?

With these 5 Tips, we set ourselves up to stop repeating old patterns of insecurity, anxiety, and fear, and to WIN with confidence in the upcoming season. I can't wait to see what God does! Let's crush the upcoming season Competitors!

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