The word of the hour is independence. Be your own person, make your own way, you can do it! We have made a god out of personal pride. The world has said that self-confidence is the key to success.

A Christian can have confidence, but his confidence comes from Christ, not from himself. Paul said:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: Rom. 7:18

He had no confidence in his own ability to accomplish anything. The truth is, if we do anything outside of Christ’s help, we are just going to get full of ourselves and think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. If we get good grades, land a great job, get a promotion, or succeed in sport without prayer for God’s guidance, help, and strength, we’ve done in on our own. We’ve built up our flesh. We’ve won one for the wrong team, and our flesh will only think it’s something special as a result. That’s dangerous.

On the other hand, Paul said:

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Phil. 4:13

Paul didn’t walk around defeated and run down. He knew that when he walked with Jesus Christ, when he did what God wanted him to do by Jesus’ strength through prayer, then he could do anything that Christ wanted him to do.

Both ways can accomplish big tasks. One, however leaves you proud and ignoring the Lord. The other leaves you humble and loving Jesus even that much more.