One of my daily verses that hit my inbox last week was the first verse I ever memorized after I surrendered my life to Christ Jesus. It was Philippians 1:6: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
I came from a religious background. I was taught the Catechism and I knew that I was created to know God and to love Him and serve Him. I just did not know how to do that. I did not even know if He wanted me since I was so sin-filled and full of guilt and shame.
Then someone led me to Christ – I did not go easily, but I did go. Everything changed, but not right away. I still felt sin-filled and full of guilt and shame. I did not trust myself to be able to live for Him. Then, after about six years I met someone, a mentor, who showed me God’s love in all its wondrous glory.
It was then that Philippians 1:6 became not just memorized words, but real. I could be confident that the good work that had begun in me would be completed.
When that verse landed in my inbox the other day, I thought once again about that “confidence.” What does that mean? Is it a cocky arrogance that arises from my soul? Or is it something else?
When I looked it up, I found (amazingly after nearly 50 years of serving Christ Jesus) a meaning that reached deep into my soul and touched my heart. That word for confident, (peitho), means both to persuade and to be persuaded of what is trustworthy. It means the LORD persuades the yielded believer to be confident in Him. My obedience is the result of God’s persuasion.
It is God who began the good work in me. It is God who continues the good work in me. It is God who has persuaded me to place my confidence in Him that He will complete that good work in me. AND, yes, in you too!