Cultivate God-Confidence (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

A Reflection for Tuesday, March 18 by Rev. Alicia Vela Anderson

Lectionary reading for 03/18/2025: Psalm 105:1-42; Numbers 14:10b-24; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13;

Selected passage for reflection: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Read

1 Corinthians 10:1-13, The Message

Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.

These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Reflect 

During a recent discussion about the Holy Spirit and how we listen to her, I was asked by a pre-teen, “Is the Holy Spirit the same thing as our conscience?” I asked her to flush out her question a little more and she went on, “Like, that voice in our head telling us what to do - sometimes people say that’s our conscience - is it really the Holy Spirit?” 

Up to that moment in the conversation, we had found places in scripture that defined the Holy Spirit as a guide, an advocate, a truth teller, etc. So her question made sense to me, but it also begs the question, is the voice in our heads telling us what to do always the truth, is it always right? Who or what is that voice in our heads? 

This launched us into a conversation about all the different sources that contribute to the voice in our heads - our families, our friends, social media, the internet, our teachers, our coaches, the list goes on and on. I would, on some level, love to be able to tell this group of pre-teens that the voice inside their head is always telling them the truth and pointing them towards love because it’s the Holy Spirit. But the reality is, their feeds are being clogged with so many voices, it’s hard to always tell the ones they should listen to. And if history tells us anything, we shouldn’t always listen to all those voices - which I think might be behind what Paul is saying here.

So instead, we talked about how to tell the voices apart. We talked about how the voice of the Divine will always be a voice of love, Love for ourselves and love for others. We talked about how the voice of the Divine will always desire thriving, for ourselves and for others. And we talked about relying on our community to help pull apart these layers of voices. 

As I read this warning in 1 Corinthians, I am surprised at what comes up in me when I read the phrases: “Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.” As a woman, I almost think Paul is telling me not to trust myself, as if it’s incredibly easy to have full confidence in exactly what God wants from me in this crazy, noisy world around me. 

But then I remember that conversation with that group of pre-teens, and my own advice that the divine speaks love and thriving over me and my world. My version of self-confidence - it comes from the armor I’ve had to wear in the battlefield of being a woman of color in mostly white, male dominant spaces. My version of self-confidence can be self serving, power craving, and the kind of truth telling that comes at the sake of others. 

But when I think about God-Confidence, I think about the idea that humility comes from an accurate depiction of myself, through the eyes of the Divine. God-confidence reorients my vision towards the love and thriving of and for all people, myself included. God-confidence reminds me that the divine has uniquely created me and gifted me, not for power hoarding but for empowering. God-confidence reminds me that I can tell the truth without dehumanizing another person or people group. 

Self-confidence makes me forget my humanity and wants me to be perfectly right all the time. But God-confidence embraces my humanity, reminds me to keep growing, keep learning, and keep loving.

Respond 

Spend some time today examining the voices in your heads. That phrase that pops into your head when you’re trying to make a decision. That thought about that person that drives you crazy. That idea of who you are when you look in the mirror. When did you first start hearing it? Where did it come from? Spend some time asking the Divine what they think about this thought - is it one you should listen to or discard? 

Rest 

Gracious God, as we go about our day and hear the voices that are screaming all around us, help us to hone in on your tender voice. The voice that reminds us we are loved, even when we’re wrong. That we are going to be okay, even when we can’t feel it. Remind us that we are your beloved creation, still in process. Breathe your life and love into our lungs as we inhale. Amen

About the Author 

Rev Alicia Vela Anderson lives in Chicago with her husband Jed. She loves exploring the neighborhoods to find local communities in small business, coffee shops, restaurants, and bars. She has a deep passion for kids, youth, and their families wrestling with how to discover and embody faith practices in their day to day lives. 

This reflection is part of a series called Prayerful Reflections: A Daily Devotional for Lent 2025. Join us on the blog each day for a new reflection from a different writer, or download the pdf of the entire devotional by clicking the link.