How does humility and confidence connect to being a student? Why is it essential?

Jello: Perseverance, discipline, humility, and confidence– these are characteristics or traits that are essential for our growth, well-being, and success. If a person wants to grow and fully-develop his/her potential and reach a certain level of success, ito ‘yung mahalaga na meron tayo.

Kailangan natin magkaroon ng confidence sa school to be able to accomplish your tasks, to excel in your academics, o kung saan mang craft. Kailangan meron kang certain degree of courage na kakayanin mo.

What is the source of our confidence? What is the proper perspective when it comes to confidence?

Matt: The more you grow as a student, the more you realize that life doesn’t really revolve around you. Nung una ina-assign lang kayo ng teachers niyo sa group works but the more you progress, you realize na hindi lang pala puro talino at diskarte ‘to lahat meron din palang factor ‘yung ugali. ‘Dun pumapasok ang humility.

Humility is essential because it greatly affects how you relate with people around you.

Faith: If we refuse to learn the essence of humility and confidence, yes, we are moving through time but we’re not really growing. If we want to grow deeper and higher, humility serves as our building block, and confidence will follow kasi ‘dun siya nanggagaling.

Insecurity and Conceit

Jello: Minsan ginagamit mo ‘yung strengths mo para itago ang insecurities mo tapos huhugot ka ng confidence sa mga bagay na magaling ka. So i-flaunt mo ‘yun tapos iha-hide mo yung insecurities mo so iba ‘yung hugot ng confidence.

Dave: Minsan hindi lang sapat na tinatago mo yung insecurities mo, ang ginagawa mo pa dina-down mo pa ‘yung iba para talagang contrasted.

Matt: No amount of skill or intelligence can cover up insecurity.

Faith: Insecurity is something that the culture dictates.

What sets the difference between the right amount of confidence and medyo sablay?

Matt: Confidence becomes good or bad in the way you express it and where it’s coming from. If your confidence comes from yourself, your skill, your reputation, or your influence, it’s not going to be long until you experience bad fruits because your confidence is on yourself.  But if it’s from Jesus Christ, it will bear good fruit.

Being confident becomes wrong when it puts down others; if a person builds his success on top of others or by using others that’s not success. But if it encourages others to become confident as well, it is good.

Faith: We need to consider the motive of our actions and even our thought patterns. That would be the gauge if you are doing it right. Your motive has to stem from your relationship with God and from what His word says.

Dave: Have an honest assessment of who you are. When you start comparing, overestimation and under-estimation of others and of yourself begins and that’s where confidence becomes wrong. But if there’s an honest assessment of yourself– your gifting, your value, and your weakness– and you show that, confidence is not bad in itself.

Acknowledging your weakness in all honesty and humility does not decrease your worth. Insecurity robs our appreciation of how God created us. 

Our value is innate, it is from God. All of us are created in the image of God and our confidence will stem from how aware and honest we are with how God sees us. 

Jello: Confidence is the idea of belief or trust in the ability of oneself.

Mali ba na meron kang degree of belief or trust sa mga abilities mo? When can I tell that my source of confidence is already misplaced?

Dave: There’s nothing wrong if you have a certain degree of self-confidence. Becoming honest and aware of who God created you to be is important.

Faith: The beauty in humility is knowing that the world doesn’t revolve around you and acknowledging that there are people way better than you. The world is big and there are so many things to learn– that gives you the self confidence that you are progressing well but it doesn’t stem from insecurity but in knowing that you have something to give.

Matt: Confidence doesn’t make you better than others. It makes you understand, know, and function better as yourself.

Faith: A good dose of self confidence is not being fearful if you will fail or commit a mistake, or if you won’t get it 100% correct. At least you tried.

Jello: Humility and confidence should not be in the opposite poles, dapat sila ‘yung nasa gitna. They are a result of proper valuation and estimation of self. 

When you have a proper valuation of self, it results in authentic humility and confidence. Authentic humility in the sense na “alam ko yung weaknesses and limitations ko so I won’t pretend that I am better than I actually am and I won’t mask my flaws and insecurities with my strengths.”

Recognize your core competencies. Recognize where you’re good at and your best value that you can add to the team.

When we think of ourselves more highly than we ought to or we think of ourselves too less than we actually are we can veer towards inferiority or conceit.

Dave: Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3 NLT)

There’s an aspect about humility na ‘yung usual idea natin about it and even insecurity and self confidence can go to the wrong side when it’s solely focused on ourselves. Humility can go further to the opposite of it na hindi na ikaw. Binigay mo ‘yung lahat mo for something bigger than you. 

In God’s humility, he emptied himself for others. He knows himself, that he is God, but he didn’t boast on it. He chose to go and serve.

As humility moves further, as we get to know our value, we begin thinking about others. Because you are confident of who you are in Christ and what you can do, you begin to use it for other people.

Jello: Those who are truly secure are truly humble. We know that a lesser task is not a point against our worth and it doesn’t diminish who we are.

If confidence and humility is a result of proper valuation of oneself, ano ‘yung measure?

Jello: We grew up in a society where you prove your worth, you earn people’s praise or trust. Kaya lagi nating pino-prove ‘yung sarili natin, takot tayong mag-fail kasi takot tayo sa sasabihin ng tao, or pinu-push natin ‘yung sarili natin para makakuha ng sense of worth. But that’s to say that our worth is inherent, long before we were created it has already been decided.

We were created in the likeness and the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) Ibigsabihin, we carry that innate worth dahil human beings tayo created with dignity and honor after the likeness and the image of God. This gives us a sense of confidence in who we are, and that gives us the freedom for self determination, may margin tayo to fail, to explore, and to develop ourselves.

Faith: When we do not know God’s love fully and our worth in him you will either hate yourself every time you make mistakes or you will hate others because you are incapable of accepting their love. Confidence has to come from that well of love that comes from God and humility comes from understanding and from your encounter of that love. 

In pursuing humility and confidence, our comfort comes from being grounded in our relationship with God and His word.

Matt: Confidence is something that happens inside of you, expressed in your life, and it also can be measured. A clearer picture of that measurement is Christ-likeness. When we observe his life we see that he is both humble and confident. He is a humble servant but you will never see him back down in the times that he needs to stand up for others, the disciples, and what God says about him.

Today on Campus is hosted by Dave Estrera and Jello de los Reyes. In this episode, they are joined by Faith Reyes and Matt Jubilado. Feel free to message us on Instagram, @todayoncampus.