When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. Isaiah 43:2–3 (NLT) We can read story upon story in the Bible of people God had to work with before He could use them to do incredible things. First, they had to see themselves as a leader. He needed them to think bigger. Similarly, God’s plans for you will not become a reality just because He believes in you. Although He has a great plan for your life, this …

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Proverbs 3:26 (ESV) In order to raise a leader, God has to raise that leader’s confidence and self-esteem. Confidence and low self-esteem cannot exist together. Confidence has to come from knowing who you are in Christ and seeing what He sees in you. Keep in mind; you can be humble and confident at the same time. Being humble simply means that you esteem others to be greater than yourself. It doesn’t mean you esteem yourself lowly. If you rated yourself on a scale of 1–10 and saw yourself as a 9.9, there would be nothing arrogant about it as long as you viewed everyone else as a 10! When God …

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) When you have poor self-esteem, it causes your faith in God to weaken. It also causes you to have a negative view of the world in general. People who have a negative view of themselves struggle in their faith life. Even if they come to believe that God is awesome, they don’t believe they are. They often question why an awesome God would want to do anything great in their life. In Numbers 13:29–33, the Israelites sent twelve spies into the Promised Land to check it out. Ten of the twelve returned but had poor self-esteem; they saw themselves as grasshoppers. Even though you could argue that this self-image was not their …

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalms 19:14 (NLT) Have you ever resolved yourself to make changes in your life, only to fall off the wagon a few weeks later? Maybe you decided to reduce debt, improve relationships, get healthy or overcome an addiction, but only achieved temporary change. This may be because you focused only on making attitude or behaviour changes. If you want permanent change, you need to go deeper. Start with your heart. Your heart is similar to soil; it grows whatever is planted in it. Soil cannot differentiate between a fruit tree and a weed. It will grow them both. Likewise, your heart will …

…think the same way that Christ Jesus thought… Philippians 2:5 (CEV) Jesus is our perfect example. If you want to develop the kind of character that helps to create honest, loving relationships and causes you to build a good name in your career, study His life and learn to think more like Him. Actually, other great resources teach the fundamentals of character as well. The Josephson Institute describes six pillars of character: Trustworthiness. Are you reliable and loyal? Do all you can to keep your word and every promise you make. Respect. Do you treat others the way you want to be treated? Be courteous and accept the differences in others. Responsibility. Are you willing to be accountable for your actions? Always think about the …