40 Bible Verses about Self Confidence

"All may stumble and fail," said Peter, "but I never will." "In solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that this very night, before the cock crows, you will three times disown me." "Even if I must die with you," declared Peter, "I will never disown you." In like manner protested all the disciples.

"All may stumble and fall," said Peter, "yet I never will." "I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that to-day--this night--before the cock crows twice, you yourself will three times disown me." "Even if I must die with you," declared Peter again and again, "I will never disown you." In like manner protested also all the disciples.

When they reached the place called 'The Skull,' there they nailed Him to the cross, and the criminals also, one at His right hand and one at His left. Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing." And they divided His garments among them, drawing lots for them;

"Master," asked Peter again, "why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life on your behalf. "You say you will lay down your life on my behalf!" said Jesus; "in most solemn truth I tell you that the cock will not crow before you have three times disowned me."

"Master," replied Peter, "with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death." "I tell you, Peter," said Jesus, "that the cock will not crow to-day till you have three times denied that you know me."

Now for some time past there had been a man named Simon living there, who had been practising magic and astonishing the Samaritans, pretending that he was more than human.

And if some of the branches have been pruned away, and you, although you were but a wild olive, have been grafted in among them and have become a sharer with others in the rich sap of the root of the olive tree, beware of glorying over the natural branches. Or if you are so glorying, do not forget that it is not you who uphold the root: the root upholds you.

And you, instead of mourning and removing from among you the man who has done this deed of shame, are filled with self-complacency!

For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world.

Why, who gives you your superiority, my brother? Or what have you that you did not receive? And if you really did receive it, why boast as if this were not so?

Come, you who say, "To-day or to-morrow we will go to this or that city, and spend a year there and carry on a successful business," when, all the while, you do not even know what will happen to-morrow. For what is the nature of your life? Why, it is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then is seen no more. Instead of that you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we shall live and do this or that."read more.
But, as the case stands, it is in mere self-confidence that you boast: all such boasting is evil.

And to some who relied on themselves as being righteous men, and looked down upon all others, He addressed this parable. "Two men went up to the Temple to pray," He said; "one being a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer.read more.
I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.' "But the tax-gatherer, standing far back, would not so much as lift his eyes to Heaven, but kept beating his breast and saying, "'O God, be reconciled to me, sinner that I am.' "I tell you that this man went home more thoroughly absolved from guilt than the other; for every one who uplifts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

although I myself might have some excuse for confidence in outward ceremonies. If any one else claims a right to trust in them, far more may I: circumcised, as I was, on the eighth day, a member of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew sprung from Hebrews; as to the Law a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church; as to the righteousness which comes through Law, blameless.

"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God.

I know a Christian man who fourteen years ago-- whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know; God knows--was caught up (this man of whom I am speaking)

I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison; as the High Priest also and all the Elders can bear me witness. It was, too, from them that I received letters to the brethren in Damascus, and I was already on my way to Damascus, intending to bring those also who had fled there, in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished. "But on my way, when I was now not far from Damascus, about noon a sudden blaze of light from Heaven shone round me.read more.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' "'Who art thou, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus, the Nazarene,' He replied, 'whom you are persecuting.' "Now the men who were with me, though they saw the light, did not hear the words of Him who spoke to me. And I asked, "'What am I to do, Lord?' "And the Lord said to me, "'Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.' "And as I could not see because the light had been so dazzling, those who were with me had to lead me by the arm, and so I came to Damascus. "And a certain Ananias, a pious man who obeyed the Law and bore a good character with all the Jews of the city, came to me and standing at my side said, "'Brother Saul, recover your sight.' "I instantly regained my sight and looked up at him. Then he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the righteous One and hear Him speak. For you shall be a witness for Him, to all men, of what you have seen and heard. And now why delay? Rise, get yourself baptized, and wash off your sins, calling upon His name.' "After my return to Jerusalem, and while praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance. I saw Jesus, and He said to me, "'Make haste and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.' "'Lord,' I replied, 'they themselves well know how active I was in imprisoning, and in flogging in synagogue after synagogue those who believe in Thee; and when they were shedding the blood of Stephen, Thy witness, I was standing by, fully approving of it, and I held the clothes of those who were killing him.' "'Go,' He replied; 'I will send you as an Apostle to nations far away.'"

I am compelled to boast. It is not a profitable employment, but I will proceed to visions and revelations granted me by the Lord.

Test yourselves to discover whether you are true believers: put your own selves under examination. Or do you not know that Jesus Christ is within you, unless you are insincere? But I trust that you will recognize that we are not insincere.

For you have heard of my early career in Judaism--how I furiously persecuted the Church of God, and made havoc of it; and how in devotion to Judaism I outstripped many men of my own age among my people, being far more zealous than they on behalf of the traditions of my forefathers. But when He who set me apart even from my birth, and called me by His grace,read more.
saw fit to reveal His Son within me in order that I might tell among the Gentiles the Good News concerning Him, at once I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were my seniors in the Apostleship, but I went away into Arabia, and afterwards came back to Damascus.

But let every man scrutinize his own conduct, and then he will find out, not with reference to another but with reference to himself, what he has to boast of.

If, however, I were to boast more loudly of our Apostolic authority, which the Lord has given us that we may build you up, not pull you down, I should have no reason to feel ashamed.

We, however, will not exceed due limits in our boasting, but will keep within the limits of the sphere which God has assigned to us as a limit, which reaches even to you. For there is no undue stretch of authority on our part, as though it did not extend to you. We pressed on even to Corinth, and were the first to proclaim to you the Good News of the Christ. We do not exceed our due limits, and take credit for other men's labours; but we entertain the hope that, as your faith grows, we shall gain promotion among you--still keeping within our own sphere--promotion to a larger field of labour,read more.
and shall tell the Good News in the districts beyond you, not boasting in another man's sphere about work already done by him. But "whoever boasts, let his boast be in the Lord."

Indeed, when they saw that I was entrusted with the preaching of the Good News to the Gentiles as Peter had been with that to the Jews--

serving the Lord in all humility, and with tears, and amid trials which came upon me through the plotting of the Jews--

For through the authority graciously given to me I warn every individual among you not to value himself unduly, but to cultivate sobriety of judgement in accordance with the amount of faith which God has allotted to each one.

Upon their arrival he said to them, "You Elders well know, from the first day of my setting foot in the province of Asia, the kind of life I lived among you the whole time,

But I, for my part, have not used, and do not use, my full rights in any of these things. Nor do I now write with that object so far as I myself am concerned, for I would rather die than have anybody make this boast of mine an empty one. If I go on preaching the Good News, that is nothing for me to boast of; for the necessity is imposed upon me; and alas for me, if I fail to preach it! And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.read more.
What are my wages then? The very fact that the Good News which I preach will cost my hearers nothing, so that I cannot be charged with abuse of my privileges as a Christian preacher.

For the reason for our boasting is this--the testimony of our own conscience that it was in holiness and with pure motives before God, and in reliance not on worldly wisdom but on the gracious help of God, that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and above all in our relations with you.

holding out to them a Message of Life. It will then be my glory on the day of Christ that I did not run my race in vain nor toil in vain.

For you yourselves, brethren, know that our visit to you did not fail of its purpose. But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition. For our preaching was not grounded on a delusion, nor prompted by mingled motives, nor was there fraud in it.read more.
But as God tested and approved us before entrusting us with His Good News, so in what we say we are seeking not to please men but to please God, who tests and approves our motives. For, as you are well aware, we have never used the language of flattery nor have we found pretexts for enriching ourselves--God is our witness; nor did we seek glory either from you or from any other mere men, although we might have stood on our dignity as Christ's Apostles. On the contrary, in our relations to you we showed ourselves as gentle as a mother is when she tenderly nurses her own children. Seeing that we were thus drawn affectionately towards you, it would have been a joy to us to have imparted to you not only God's Good News, but to have given our very lives also, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil: how, working night and day so as not to become a burden to any one of you, we came and proclaimed among you God's Good News. You yourselves are witnesses--and God is witness--how holy and upright and blameless our dealings with you believers were. For you know that we acted towards every one of you as a father does towards his own children, encouraging and cheering you, and imploring you to live lives worthy of fellowship with God who is inviting you to share His own Kingship and glory.

Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led astray into sin, and I am not aflame with indignation? If boast I must, it shall be of things which display my weakness.

I use the language of self-disparagement, as though I were admitting our own feebleness. Yet for whatever reason any one is 'courageous' --I speak in mere folly--I also am courageous. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if I were out of my mind.)read more.
From the Jews I five times have received forty lashes all but one. Three times I have been beaten with Roman rods, once I have been stoned, three times I have been shipwrecked, once for full four and twenty hours I was floating on the open sea. I have served Him by frequent travelling, amid dangers in crossing rivers, dangers from robbers; dangers from my own countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles; dangers in the city, dangers in the Desert, dangers by sea, dangers from spies in our midst; with labour and toil, with many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, in frequent fastings, in cold, and with insufficient clothing. And besides other things, which I pass over, there is that which presses on me daily--my anxiety for all the Churches.

but His reply has been, "My grace suffices for you, for power matures in weakness." Most gladly therefore will I boast of my infirmities rather than complain of them--in order that Christ's power may overshadow me.

What I am now saying, I do not say by the Lord's command, but as a fool in his folly might, in this reckless boasting. Since many boast for merely human reasons, I too will boast.

"But you, who do you say that I am?" He asked again. "You," replied Simon Peter, "are the Christ, the Son of the ever-living God." "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jonah," said Jesus; "for mere human nature has not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven.

Then He asked them pointedly, "But you yourselves, who do you say that I am?" "You are the Christ," answered Peter.

"But you," He asked, "who do you say that I am?" "God's Anointed One," replied Peter. And Jesus strictly forbad them to tell this to any one;

Then the High Priest stood up and asked Him, "Have you no answer to make? What is it these men are saying in evidence against you?" Jesus however remained silent. Again the High Priest addressed Him. "In the name of the ever-living God," he said, "I now put you on your oath. Tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God." "I am He," replied Jesus. "But I tell you that, later on, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Omnipotence, and coming on the clouds of the sky."

You call me 'The Rabbi' and 'The Master,' and rightly so, for such I am.

But God has chosen the things which the world regards as foolish, in order to put its wise men to shame; and God has chosen the things which the world regards as destitute of influence, in order to put its powerful things to shame; and the things which the world regards as base, and those which it sets utterly at nought--things that have no existence--God has chosen in order to reduce to nothing things that do exist; to prevent any mortal man from boasting in the presence of God.read more.
But you--and it is all God's doing--are in Christ Jesus: He has become for us a wisdom which is from God, consisting of righteousness and sanctification and deliverance; in order that it may be as Scripture says, "He who boasts--let his boast be in the Lord."