September 12, 2023 • 41 mins
Do you ever find yourself questioning your worth or your path in life? This week, we're diving deep into the transformative power of confidence that comes from God. We'll explore how this divine gift can be your anchor in times of doubt and your guide to mental wellness. If you're ready for a life filled with hope and purpose, you won't want to miss this episode!
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Buy the book on Amazon: www.amazon.com/When-Words-Dont-Come-Easy/dp/1955362084
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's up everybody.
I think this week is one ofthose topics that is very hard
for me.
Just being real and vulnerablewith you, I'm going to just kind
of unveil, pull the curtainback a little bit, unveil what
it's like in the life of AndyHoward and share one of my
biggest struggles, which isconfidence and self-esteem.
(00:23):
But we're going to try to learnabout confidence and
self-esteem from a Christianperspective.
So stick around to the very end, because I have three tips to
help you grow in your confidenceand self-esteem, but also just
some latest things that havehappened in the last couple of
weeks that really got methinking and really got my
(00:46):
attention, and I pray it will bea blessing to you and that it
will help you.
All that and more is happeningright after this.
What's up everybody.
(01:12):
Welcome back to the when WordsDon't Come Easy podcast.
My name is Andy Howard and I amso glad you are here and today
is a pretty special day for me.
This is episode number 52.
And for those of you scoring athome in UMath majors, 52 equals
(01:33):
one year, one year's worth ofpodcasts.
So I have been putting out apodcast every Tuesday for the
last 52 weeks and so we haveofficially made it one year.
I guess maybe that's actuallynext Tuesday I don't know how
this works, I need to go do myhomework but maybe next Tuesday
(01:54):
is when we actually celebratethe one year anniversary of the
podcast kicking off.
But today is officially the52nd podcast, which is a big
deal for me.
I don't know that I everthought I would do a podcast
ever.
And then when I started I saidwe would see how this thing goes
.
And I don't know if I'm being100% real with you If I thought
(02:19):
I would make it to 52 episodes.
But here we are, and the wholereason we are here is to give
hope.
It's what this podcast is about.
It's a podcast for hope andthere was a time in my life when
, 10 years ago, that I don'tknow that I wanted to be here,
(02:41):
just living in general, but thatwas kind of the end of my
depression, the end of that era.
And now I'm back, I'm betterthan ever, I'm stronger.
Over the last 10 years I'vebeen gaining and renewing my
strength in Christ and my hopehas been found in him.
(03:05):
And this whole podcast is notfrom an expert.
I don't claim to be someone whoknows it all by any means.
I am just a dude who is in thetrenches with those others who
may be suffering from depressionor anxiety, fear, fear,
(03:30):
whatever it is After 2020,.
I know that all these differentthings, all these different
labels are at all time high, andso that's what I wanted to do
with the podcast.
That's what the whole book'sfor.
In fact, the book, the wholereason I wrote the book and how
that came about even was justyou and I, sitting across from
(03:53):
each other and me telling mystory, and that's how I wrote it
.
I wrote it from that point ofview.
If you read it, I hope that youwill, I guess, appreciate that
that it's like us sitting downat a coffee shop and having a
conversation, and it's my wholestory, my whole story.
(04:19):
It's the good, it's the bad,it's the ugly, it's all of it,
and so that's what I wanted todo there, and I want to do the
same here.
I wanted to try to create thesame with the podcast.
If this podcast would be apodcast about hope, it would be
a place you could turn to tofind out more if you're dealing
(04:43):
with depression or anxiety orstruggling with fear or anything
like that.
Maybe it's just a second foryou to get away and unplug from
the chaos of the world.
Hey, that's what we're here for.
So hope you're enjoying it.
I hope you've had as much funin this first year as I have.
(05:05):
It's been, it's been amazing,it's been absolutely amazing and
I am so, just I'm proud, proudto be here, proud to have made
it a year.
So thank you, guys, for all ofyou who send in texts and
compliments along the way.
They're so encouraging and theyhelp me keep going and I
(05:29):
appreciate you, I appreciate youtaking the time to send a text
or a voice note or a voice mail,any of it.
It really helps me keep goingand hopefully I am making a
difference in one life at a time.
But today, man, there's so manyprobably going to go down
several rabbit trails here.
(05:51):
I got so much in my heart rightnow, but I wanted to talk about
confidence.
Confidence because I wasthinking about that, like why I
struggled so much to write thebook, why I struggled so much to
even try the podcast, even in,so much of it comes back to
(06:15):
confidence and for me andthere's a fine line with this
right, but for me I admire, Iadmire confidence and boldness.
So much Like.
And please hear me out, hear meout.
I am happily married to mybeautiful wife, tiffany.
(06:38):
For those who know her, youknow she's gorgeous.
So I'm very secure in mymanhood to say this.
But, like when looking at otherdudes, like traits that I admire
or attracted to let me just putit that way traits that I look
up to and admire, to it'sconfidence, somewhere along the
(07:03):
way I lost that.
I used to be very confident.
I don't know if it was a Samsonthing or could I use for those
who know me recently, for thelast 20 plus years of my life
you've known I haven't had anyhair.
But back in the day, gosh, whenI graduated high school and I
(07:25):
was in a band, I had, like longhair.
I joke around and say I do saythis a lot that I was a bad
steward of my hair.
So God took it away, becauseI'm sure there's some bad
pictures to have to go with thatfunky haircut that I used to
have, or lack of haircut, maybethat is.
(07:46):
But confidence for me issomething I admire and it's
because I'm missing it, man, I'mtelling you, even when I do a
podcast, you would not believein those who look at me and you
see me as this confident person.
Thank you.
But you have no idea.
(08:08):
Most of the times I come inhere kicking and screaming
before I do a podcast episode orbefore I recorded my book, even
I had to go out to a studio andI was scared to death.
There's three people there.
My best buddy was with me andsome dude in you know running
(08:29):
the board behind the glass.
I didn't even know him, but Iwas scared to death.
It's just so many, so manythings.
So confidence.
For some reason I used to beextremely confident.
I remember.
Take you on a little journeydown memory lane.
I remember so well playinglittle league baseball.
(08:51):
Some of my best buddies in theworld.
Brad, if you're listening tothis episode, I know a lot of
you are not on friends of mineon Facebook anymore.
Instagram, brad, james, james B.
We had a James B and a James T,but James B, james.
(09:13):
Burl Smith just threw yourwhole name out there so people
can look you up.
We grew up playing balltogether.
Man.
Baseball was so fun, especiallylittle league.
Like there's no pressure, it'sfine man, and there's no like
all the pressures, the real lifestuff you have to deal with
when you become an adult.
When you're a kid, you're justplaying ball, having fun, and I
(09:40):
remember, though, the pressureof like in a baseball game.
I wanted it Like if we werelosing in the bottom of the
ninth.
I don't even know how manyinnings you play in the little
league, but just coming to theend of the game, I was hoping I
would be batting.
Like, let me bat.
I wanted, I knew I would comethrough, I knew I could do it
(10:03):
because I had confidence in it.
And same same at the field,like so many people are like
praying the ball doesn't come tothem.
I wanted the ball to come to mebecause I knew I could do it.
I knew we will win.
If he hits the ball to me and I,for those of you who know me, I
(10:25):
love to win.
Winning is important, winningmatters.
So don't come to me and say, hi, winning doesn't matter.
If winning doesn't matter, thenwhy did First National Bank buy
us that scoreboard?
That's all I'm going to say.
I remember a coach told me thatone time, way long time ago,
and, yes, he was right.
Winning matters, man.
(10:46):
So I wanted it.
I want to win.
Hit me the ball.
I didn't know.
That's the only thing I couldcontrol.
I can control what I can do.
I couldn't control what happensif they hit it to little Johnny
Whoever I don't think we had alittle Johnny, that's why I said
that.
But I could control whathappens if they hit it to me.
Then the same thing wouldhappen when gosh I guess it was
(11:10):
the hair man when.
So I graduated high school and Iwas in a band a couple of years
, played with some of thegreatest musicians.
Even to this day I would tellyou they were some of the most
phenomenal musicians ever.
Mo, my brother, mo DanielBoatwright, if you're listening,
man dude, still to this day oneof the best musicians I've ever
(11:32):
played with phenomenal, playedeverything, everything with one
hand, by the way, and that'sjust a side note that don't even
matter but literally has onehand and he killed it.
He killed every instrument.
And then a dude named ChrisRoberts man, phenomenal,
(11:53):
phenomenal guy Played guitarlike behind his back and over
his head, just like Stevie Ray.
Dude was absolutely amazing.
But when I was with these dudesI was so confident and one of
the coolest things we'd beplaying a club, we'd be playing
somewhere, and you're just goingthrough all the mic checks and
(12:14):
all the things getting set upand getting everything in order,
and there's, you know, peoplejust randomly talking and
there's a loud like roar in thecrowd because they're all just
chatting with each other.
No one knows what's going on.
But then when they go to do thesound check on the drums and
that's what I played drums SinceI was nine years old, I've
always played drums that'sanother thing, another reason I
(12:38):
was so confident because it'swhat I grew up doing.
But they would start with that.
They'd say give me the kick.
You know your bass drum.
And you just, and all of asudden there would be a hug,
there would be a hush, come overthe audience because it's like
oh, it's starting and I loved it.
Man, I wanted every eye on me.
(12:59):
I know those who know me nowwouldn't believe that, but I
wanted the attention, I loved it.
And then they'd go, you know,give me the floor time.
And I'd start playing the floortime.
And then, after he was readyand he'd gotten everything where
he wanted it Mike, check wisehe would say just go ahead and
play the whole set.
And for just 30 seconds I gotto just, you know, rip up my my
(13:24):
drums, man, and for 30 secondseverybody was watching me and I
loved every minute of it.
It was just a very special dayand I thought about what in the
world happened.
What in the world happenedalong the way?
Something happened and and Idon't know if it's when we got
(13:45):
Peyton's diagnosis Maybe I lostuh, took my eyes off my where my
hope comes from.
Maybe it's the three hundredforty five pounds when I, when I
gained my weight and it got upto three hundred and forty five
pounds and it was so unhealthyand I avoided every mirror in
(14:09):
the world Because I didn't, likeyou saw and I lost confidence.
So why is confidence soimportant?
Why is it so?
Why am I so attracted to it?
Usually, I think you'reattracted to your polar opposite
.
That's what I found inmarriages and couples.
(14:31):
That's what I found in likesome of the traits that I admire
, but but confidence is one ofthose things that I absolutely
admire.
I just those that have it.
I love it.
Like my wife Is a baller.
Like she's a very big deal inthe business world.
She speaks to huge crowds.
(14:54):
She's spoke to the sold outarenas, like these conferences
at State Farm Arena in InAtlanta.
Anyway, she's just and she useswith confidence and I
absolutely admire her that shedoesn't care what people think
you take her or leave her.
(15:15):
She throws it out there withsuch confidence and I watch her
do that.
I'm like man, that's what Iwant to do Take me or leave me.
I want to throw it out thereand for some reason I lack
confidence.
So I was going to talk a littlebit about that today and
hopefully we can.
Maybe there's just one moreperson out there that's like me.
(15:37):
You'd be so bold to admit itand say any dude Confidence is
hard for me to.
I want to help you with thattoday.
I feel like I have some tips,some answers that will help
stare you in the right direction.
But even as we record thisepisode, at the recording of
(16:01):
this, Dion Sanders If you don'tknow who he is, obviously you
don't know who I am because I'ma sports nut and football season
officially just started thispast weekend and Dion Sanders is
back in division one, collegefootball.
He's got the new gig.
He came over from Jackson stateand he's got the new gig as the
(16:24):
head coach of the ColoradoBuffalo's.
Came in as a three touchdownunderdog, which I already
thought was nuts.
I didn't know that they wouldwin.
Going to TCU I didn't.
I wasn't going to go that far.
But when I saw they were downby three TDs I thought
something's not adding up herebecause Dion's going to have his
(16:46):
boys ready.
That dude is confidence Like.
If you look up Dion Sanders oryou look up confidence in the
dictionary, you're going to seea picture of Dion Sanders.
Or if you look up Dion Sanders,you can see the word confidence
.
That's just it.
That dude oozes with confidenceand I absolutely love it and I
(17:08):
get it.
I get it.
We.
We love to build up people.
And then there's the same ones.
As soon as they get to acertain level, we love to see
them crash and burn.
So I know I lost at least halfthe audience here.
Like, some of you, like cannotstand confident people and
there's a difference.
I want you to hear that.
The cocky people there's adifference.
(17:32):
Okay, confidence and cocky Twototally different things, ergon,
cocky not fun.
Not fun to be around, no onelikes to be around them.
But confident people, everybodywants to be around them because
they just exude confidence.
(17:52):
That's what they do and peopleare like man I want to hang out
with that dude.
And if you want to be moreconfident in your life you know
what you have to do you have tofind people who are confident
and hang out with them.
That's one of the things.
Hang out with people that havethe gifts that you want.
And there's definitely adifference.
(18:12):
And the reason why I think it'sso important is because I
believe with all my heart thatevery single one of you were
created with a purpose I ampausing for effect here.
Every single one of you werecreated with a purpose, with a
mission, with a reason whyyou're here on this earth.
(18:36):
God birthed that dream insideof you, created you with a
purpose, and you will not getthere without confidence.
See, I believe with all myheart John 10, 10 that the devil
, the enemy, comes to still killand destroy.
So what's that mean exactly?
Like for me?
I told you I used to be veryconfident.
(19:00):
I, I I don't know I came from.
I guess I was a big fish in asmall pond, like at my church.
I was the dude, my dad was thepastor and I grew up in I think
I had three different brothersat one point where my different
youth pastors throughout mychildhood and so I had a
(19:21):
connection with my youth pastor,like, like that cause, we're,
we're brothers, and then I wasjust the natural leader of that
group.
I mean, that was my, that wasmy youth group, that was my
group.
So you wanted to come to mygroup, you had to come through
me.
That sounds very confident,right?
(19:41):
That's just how I was.
I was so confident, butsomewhere along the way the
enemy stole my confidence to thepoint where now, before I speak
, before I do podcasts, I amscared to death.
At the same time, I do want youto know God gives me strength,
(20:02):
he helps me, and every time I'mdone, man people will come up
out the wazoo and say how goodit was, how bless they were with
it.
So please hear my heart.
God is still using me the wholetime, but under the water, what
you can't see under the surface, is I am scared to death.
(20:23):
And I think there is there'sthere is some wisdom in that
when you do something that'sbigger than you, it helps you to
lean on God more and helps youto trust in him more, and that's
where our focus should beanyways.
So please hear me.
I'm not saying be confident inyourself, be so cocky in
(20:45):
yourself and, oh, look at AndyHoward, look at what he does.
That's not it at all.
But come from a place of powerand who your God is and who you
were created to be, that he'sgot you.
And if he has you, he wouldn'thave called you to do something
(21:08):
that you can't do.
In fact, that calling it'sstirring up inside you right now
, even as I'm doing this podcast.
You're getting nervous becauseyou're like, oh man, that scares
me.
It scares me to take that jump.
But you know, once you do it,it will be the best feeling of
(21:28):
your life.
And it's the truth.
When I speak somewhere, when Ido a podcast, tiff will tell you
, ask her and I'll be gettinginterviewed by somebody.
I don't know them and I gettheir credentials and it
intimidates me and I'm like, ohmy gosh, this person is such a
(21:49):
big deal.
Right, this person is such abig deal.
Have you seen like their bio isso long?
It's like an encyclopedia.
For those who don't know whatencyclopedias are, I digress.
It's like this massive, longbook of where they came from.
And who am I?
Who am I to be interviewed bythis person?
(22:11):
And I will tell Tiff this everysingle time and I'll be like
I'm just going to cancel, I'mgoing to cancel, I'm going to
call them, I'm going to textthem.
Something popped up Familyemergency.
I can't do it.
I will say it over and over andshe's like no, you're not, no,
you're not.
Kiss me that.
Look, you're going to do it.
And then when I'm done whetherit's speaking at a church,
(22:35):
speaking at conferences,speaking for these podcasts, or
when I'm doing somebody else'spodcast I get off and I'm
exhilarated Like my heart isjust like feels, like heaven is.
It's filled my heart because Iam doing what I'm called to be
doing.
That's why confidence is soimportant to do what you were
(22:59):
called to do.
Wanted to talk about a BrayWyatt and his real name.
That was his.
I guess you'd call it character, his wrestling wrestling name,
his ring name was Bray Wyatt.
But I'll be honest, I did notknow a whole lot about the young
(23:20):
man until he died and I hate, Ihate that.
It happens a lot when someonepasses away.
I will, I will.
I'm just curious.
I want to know more about themand I want to see, like, what
their last post was and whatwere they thinking before they
(23:45):
passed and do they have family,do they have kids, all the
things?
And his name, I'm sorry, hisofficial name, his real name is
Wyndham Rotunda, if I'm sayingthat, right, rotunda.
He played Bray Wyatt from WWE.
(24:06):
He's a wrestler and passed awayrecently of heart some kind of a
heart condition and I'm notgoing to get into all that.
I've seen, believe it or not.
There was already tons ofrumors of how it could have
happened.
It's very controversial.
There's and I don't want tospend this time in controversy
(24:26):
so I'm not even going to gothere but way too young.
Bottom line is he was way tooyoung to pass away.
Thank you, he was 34, maybe 36.
I don't know.
I don't remember, but I don'tmatter.
What matters is, every timesomeone like that, a celebrity,
(24:48):
someone popular, like, scrollsacross my news feed or TV or
sports center or something, itgrabs my heart.
And I'm not saying in placehere, because I know I'm going
to get a hundred of these emailsas well.
Oh, you know, people die everyday.
I get it and that's what I'mtalking about.
(25:08):
This is for the people who dieevery single day.
Not making more to do about acelebrity.
My heart breaks for him and hisfamily Bottom line is you are
not promised tomorrow.
I'm not trying to end this thingon a dark note.
It was supposed to be a happy.
(25:28):
It's the.
This is a 52nd episode.
Why aren't you happy, howard?
Happy Howard, that's my newnickname.
Why aren't you happy?
Well, we don't have tomorrowpromised.
So what are you called to dotoday If they were to look at
(25:53):
your life and let's just getreally morbid for a second.
But this one comes.
This episode comes out onTuesday.
So let me look into my calendarto know exactly what date.
That would be Tuesday,september the 12th.
Here we are, so I'm hopingyou're listening to this on
(26:15):
September 12th, like you'vealready clicked subscribe and
you got the notification andit's Tuesday and you're driving
to the gym or whatever you'redoing with your day and you're
listening to your boy and Ithank you for that.
Thank you for that five starrating as well.
Free plug if you would.
That would help more peoplefind this podcast about hope.
(26:39):
But pause for a second.
October 12th.
What's the very last?
What's the very last post youmade on Facebook, instagram?
Was it something silly?
Was it a cat video?
Nothing wrong with cat videos.
I love them too.
Dog videos something silly.
(27:02):
Some dude crashes golf cart.
I don't know.
Was it a dad joke?
I love dad jokes.
He poured your heart out, likewith a vulnerable pose of
inspiration or hope, I don'tknow.
But my question is it's likeSeptember 12th.
You were gone.
(27:25):
How will your family rememberyou?
I want that to sink in.
How are your friends closest toyou Remember you?
How are those who you workedwith, your neighbors?
Well, they remember the grumpydude kicking the trash can
because he had a bad day.
I don't know, I just kind ofcame to mind.
(27:47):
Like you're oiling the trashcan to the curve and you just
get so mad you kick it.
I don't know, it's stupid.
Well, they remember you as adude that cuts someone off in
traffic.
Or they cut you off and so youlay on the horn.
You're just so mad, you'refurious.
How would they remember you?
(28:08):
Well, they come to your funeraland have to lie to your family
and make up something, be likeah, that Andy Howard was so
outgoing.
I love that about him.
(28:30):
I'm still working on you guys.
I want to be real.
I want to be 100% real.
I want people to know me asauthentic, as vulnerable, as a
person of hope, as a advocatefor mental depression, as an
(28:57):
advocate for those who aredealing with anxiety, as an
advocate for those who areliving in fear.
Dude, I'm done with it and allthe things.
Whatever it is that the enemymay have taken from you.
Maybe it's not confidence,maybe confidence is the least of
your concern, but whatever itis, man, whatever's been stolen
(29:21):
from you, it's time to kick thedoor down.
Take it back.
For me, it's confidence.
So my goal is to keep going foranother year's worth of
episodes.
Let's just do it.
Let's be confident, to speak atmore conferences this year, to
(29:43):
speak at even more churches thisyear.
Who knows, maybe even writeanother put this year.
But I want to do more, becauseI believe each and every one of
us are called to more.
So, as far as tips on how tobuild your confidence, the first
(30:08):
thing I would do is explorebiblical passages that affirm
your identity in Christ, and thefirst one I wanted to read is
taken straight from 1 Peter, 2,9.
And this is the message version, and I love the message version
.
It's just so simple, so easy toread.
So, again, if it's not yourfavorite version, feel free to
(30:31):
go look it up in your favoriteversion.
But for simplicity here I'mgoing to read this.
And it says but you are theones chosen.
So who are you?
Right, you're the ones chosenby God, chosen for the high
calling of priestly work, chosento be a holy people, god's
instruments to do his work andto speak out for him to tell
(30:53):
others of the night and daydifference he made in you from
nothing to something, fromrejected to accepted.
That's who you are.
You might need to rewind thatagain to listen and see who you
are.
There's another one that Ithought was just an amazing
(31:15):
portion of scripture.
It's only three more verses,but it's Ephesians 2, 7, 3, 10.
Again from the message says NowGod, now God has us where he
wants us, with all the time inthis world and the next to
shower grace and kindness uponus in Christ Jesus.
(31:35):
Saving is all his ideal in allhis work.
All we do is trust him enoughto let him do it.
It's God's gift from start tofinish.
We don't play the major role.
If we did, we'd probably goaround bragging that we did the
whole thing.
No, we neither make nor saveourselves.
(31:58):
God does both the making andthe saving.
He creates each of us by ChristJesus to join him in the work
he does, the good work.
He has gotten us ready to dowork we had better be doing.
I love that portion.
So, again, explore those twopassages that affirm who we are.
(32:21):
Who are we in Christ?
That's what matters.
That's how you build yourconfidence.
The second thing I wouldencourage you to do is renew
your mind with God's truth.
Our minds can be filled withsuch negative and self doubt.
However, as Christians, we haveaccess to God's truth that can
(32:48):
renew our minds and transformour way of thinking.
Let's explore what the renewingof our minds with God's truth
looks like and how it can boostour confidence and our self
esteem.
I got to tell you how importantit is to replace the lies, the
(33:11):
negative self talk, the beatingyourself up.
You got to replace that withtruth that only comes from God
and for me and you might noteven be aware how often you do
it it's good to be surrounded bygood people in your life that
are going the same direction youwant to go, that are pursuing
(33:33):
the things you want to pursue.
Like, I always encourage you tobe around five people that are
better than you.
I mean that you're less thanyou know what I mean.
But if you're trying to getbetter at something you want to
be like if I was to be a bettergolfer which would take a
miracle I would surround myselffor those kind of people so I
(33:53):
could learn from them, so Icould find out what they're
doing right.
How do I get better?
Oh, he does this or she doesthat.
I could learn from them.
It's the same thing.
So my wife, who is one that Iadmire, not just for being my
best friend, not just for beingthis amazing leader and a
business leader and a Christianand all the things and confident
(34:19):
I already told you that, right,but she says she would never
let anyone talk to me the way Italk to myself.
Wow, that hits home, right,Like.
So, if some stranger came up toyou and talked to you the way
you talked to yourself, wouldyou let that go?
You would.
(34:42):
I have a feeling somethingwould rise up in you, right?
So why do we do that?
Why do we beat ourselves up?
Let's replace the negativeself-talk with encouragement.
Jump into the Word of God.
See, the enemy is the father oflies.
(35:04):
So all the negative stuffcoming from the enemy himself,
from the devil.
Replace that with truths.
Jump into the Psalms Such agreat, great reminder of where
we should focus and who our hopebelongs to.
Another way to find confidence,or build your confidence.
(35:26):
Number three is focus on thepromises of God.
Focus on finding strength inGod's promises.
Focus on finding strength inGod's promises.
God's promises provide us withstrength to face any challenges
(35:52):
that may come our way, with hopeand with confidence that we
need that all comes from HisWord, that all comes from His
promises.
God's promises can bolster ourself-esteem and our confidence.
A couple of my favoritescriptures, a couple of His
promises that we need toremember.
And if you've ever been inchurch or even around a
(36:15):
Christian bookstore or anywhereChristian art is even so you've
probably seen this scripture,but I absolutely love it.
Jeremiah 29, 11 says I know theplans I have for you.
Declare the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not toharm you.
Plans to give you hope and afuture.
(36:37):
That's His promise.
God can't lie, right?
The enemy is the father of lies.
God can't lie.
It's who he is.
He is truth.
So he can't even lie if hewanted to which he doesn't want
to because he's God.
He's truth.
But he can't lie.
(36:58):
So that's who he is.
So he has plans for youUnderstand on those promises,
plans to give you hope and afuture.
And the other one, of course,philippians 4, 13,.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
That's incredible.
(37:20):
So God's promises, his word, isthere for us to lean on, so to
booster our confidence, and thisis something I am growing in.
My confidence gets better eachtime I do something scared.
I can't tell you that I wasperfect.
If you go all the way back tothe first episode a year ago,
today, I cannot tell you I wasperfect, but I do feel like I'm
(37:44):
in a long way still not perfecttoday.
Can I keep doing it scared?
Can I keep trusting God?
And my confidence is growing.
So I hope this has helped insome way with your confidence,
with a boost of your confidenceof who you are.
Just know that you're loved,that you're special, that you're
(38:09):
important, that you werecreated with a purpose.
And our time is not promised,tomorrow is not promised, so we
have to do everything we can tofollow God's will and I think
one of the biggest, one of thebiggest things you can do to
(38:29):
help that is is growing yourconfidence.
So, anyways, hope this has beena blessing to you.
See you next week.
Hey, I hope that blessed you.
I hope that helped you.
Just remember, your confidencecomes from God.
So, if anything else, connectto Him, lean on Him and he will
help you.
(38:49):
With anything you are facing,he will give you the answer.
He will put people in your pathto make you better at whatever
you're praying for.
So be careful what you'repraying for, because he's going
to do that.
He'll take care of you.
He's not going to leave you.
He can't.
That's not who he is, so He'llnever leave you alone.
He'll never forsake you.
(39:10):
He'll be with you to the end.
So, if anything, link up to Him.
Link up to Him like you wouldhook up whatever you call those
things on a train.
Right, that's a little train.
You know what?
Oh man, totally derailed, butderailed literally.
What are the little things thatgo on trains?
(39:31):
I don't know, but you know whatI'm talking about.
Hook your wagon to God.
Whatever that little portion ofthe train is, hook it up to God
.
Anyways, I hope this has beengood for you.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you haven't got the book yet,it's called when Words Don't
Come Easy and I dive into a lotmore stories about myself that
(39:56):
are just real and vulnerable,but they're meant to give you
hope and meant to give you a wayout through some of the
mistakes and things I learnedfrom.
But a lot of it's about mystory and my battle with
depression.
Some of its own confidence,like we mentioned today, some of
its own marriage help,financial help, but all the ways
throughout my journey where Godhas been so faithful.
(40:18):
So if you are interested inthat, please, you can get that
at AndyHowardcom.
I would love to come to yourchurch.
I will even send a book out anda press kit out to your pastor.
Or, if you are a pastor, pleasemessage me with your address.
I would love to come and sharemy testimony, my hope, and help
(40:42):
the people who are strugglingwith depression.
You can do all that more.
That's at AndyHowardcom.
If you want to listen to thebook, you can get it from
Audible.
It's even on Kindle.
So thank you, guys, so muchAgain.
Subscribe to the podcast, sharethis one with somebody who you
feel like it would be a blessingto, and I would love your
(41:05):
five-star review.
Thanks so much.
God bless everybody.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
If this episode helped you inany way, it would mean the world
to me if you would leave areview and share it with
somebody else.
Thanks so much.
I'll catch you next time.
Hey, what's up everybody.
I think this week is one ofthose topics that is very hard
for me.
Just being real and vulnerablewith you, I'm going to just kind
of unveil, pull the curtainback a little bit, unveil what
it's like in the life of AndyHoward and share one of my
biggest struggles, which isconfidence and self-esteem.
(00:23):
But we're going to try to learnabout confidence and
self-esteem from a Christianperspective.
So stick around to the very end, because I have three tips to
help you grow in your confidenceand self-esteem, but also just
some latest things that havehappened in the last couple of
weeks that really got methinking and really got my
(00:46):
attention, and I pray it will bea blessing to you and that it
will help you.
All that and more is happeningright after this.
What's up everybody.
(01:12):
Welcome back to the when WordsDon't Come Easy podcast.
My name is Andy Howard and I amso glad you are here and today
is a pretty special day for me.
This is episode number 52.
And for those of you scoring athome in UMath majors, 52 equals
(01:33):
one year, one year's worth ofpodcasts.
So I have been putting out apodcast every Tuesday for the
last 52 weeks and so we haveofficially made it one year.
I guess maybe that's actuallynext Tuesday I don't know how
this works, I need to go do myhomework but maybe next Tuesday
(01:54):
is when we actually celebratethe one year anniversary of the
podcast kicking off.
But today is officially the52nd podcast, which is a big
deal for me.
I don't know that I everthought I would do a podcast
ever.
And then when I started I saidwe would see how this thing goes
.
And I don't know if I'm being100% real with you If I thought
(02:19):
I would make it to 52 episodes.
But here we are, and the wholereason we are here is to give
hope.
It's what this podcast is about.
It's a podcast for hope andthere was a time in my life when
, 10 years ago, that I don'tknow that I wanted to be here,
(02:41):
just living in general, but thatwas kind of the end of my
depression, the end of that era.
And now I'm back, I'm betterthan ever, I'm stronger.
Over the last 10 years I'vebeen gaining and renewing my
strength in Christ and my hopehas been found in him.
(03:05):
And this whole podcast is notfrom an expert.
I don't claim to be someone whoknows it all by any means.
I am just a dude who is in thetrenches with those others who
may be suffering from depressionor anxiety, fear, fear,
(03:30):
whatever it is After 2020,.
I know that all these differentthings, all these different
labels are at all time high, andso that's what I wanted to do
with the podcast.
That's what the whole book'sfor.
In fact, the book, the wholereason I wrote the book and how
that came about even was justyou and I, sitting across from
(03:53):
each other and me telling mystory, and that's how I wrote it
.
I wrote it from that point ofview.
If you read it, I hope that youwill, I guess, appreciate that
that it's like us sitting downat a coffee shop and having a
conversation, and it's my wholestory, my whole story.
(04:19):
It's the good, it's the bad,it's the ugly, it's all of it,
and so that's what I wanted todo there, and I want to do the
same here.
I wanted to try to create thesame with the podcast.
If this podcast would be apodcast about hope, it would be
a place you could turn to tofind out more if you're dealing
(04:43):
with depression or anxiety orstruggling with fear or anything
like that.
Maybe it's just a second foryou to get away and unplug from
the chaos of the world.
Hey, that's what we're here for.
So hope you're enjoying it.
I hope you've had as much funin this first year as I have.
(05:05):
It's been, it's been amazing,it's been absolutely amazing and
I am so, just I'm proud, proudto be here, proud to have made
it a year.
So thank you, guys, for all ofyou who send in texts and
compliments along the way.
They're so encouraging and theyhelp me keep going and I
(05:29):
appreciate you, I appreciate youtaking the time to send a text
or a voice note or a voice mail,any of it.
It really helps me keep goingand hopefully I am making a
difference in one life at a time.
But today, man, there's so manyprobably going to go down
several rabbit trails here.
(05:51):
I got so much in my heart rightnow, but I wanted to talk about
confidence.
Confidence because I wasthinking about that, like why I
struggled so much to write thebook, why I struggled so much to
even try the podcast, even in,so much of it comes back to
(06:15):
confidence and for me andthere's a fine line with this
right, but for me I admire, Iadmire confidence and boldness.
So much Like.
And please hear me out, hear meout.
I am happily married to mybeautiful wife, tiffany.
(06:38):
For those who know her, youknow she's gorgeous.
So I'm very secure in mymanhood to say this.
But, like when looking at otherdudes, like traits that I admire
or attracted to let me just putit that way traits that I look
up to and admire, to it'sconfidence, somewhere along the
(07:03):
way I lost that.
I used to be very confident.
I don't know if it was a Samsonthing or could I use for those
who know me recently, for thelast 20 plus years of my life
you've known I haven't had anyhair.
But back in the day, gosh, whenI graduated high school and I
(07:25):
was in a band, I had, like longhair.
I joke around and say I do saythis a lot that I was a bad
steward of my hair.
So God took it away, becauseI'm sure there's some bad
pictures to have to go with thatfunky haircut that I used to
have, or lack of haircut, maybethat is.
(07:46):
But confidence for me issomething I admire and it's
because I'm missing it, man, I'mtelling you, even when I do a
podcast, you would not believein those who look at me and you
see me as this confident person.
Thank you.
But you have no idea.
(08:08):
Most of the times I come inhere kicking and screaming
before I do a podcast episode orbefore I recorded my book, even
I had to go out to a studio andI was scared to death.
There's three people there.
My best buddy was with me andsome dude in you know running
(08:29):
the board behind the glass.
I didn't even know him, but Iwas scared to death.
It's just so many, so manythings.
So confidence.
For some reason I used to beextremely confident.
I remember.
Take you on a little journeydown memory lane.
I remember so well playinglittle league baseball.
(08:51):
Some of my best buddies in theworld.
Brad, if you're listening tothis episode, I know a lot of
you are not on friends of mineon Facebook anymore.
Instagram, brad, james, james B.
We had a James B and a James T,but James B, james.
(09:13):
Burl Smith just threw yourwhole name out there so people
can look you up.
We grew up playing balltogether.
Man.
Baseball was so fun, especiallylittle league.
Like there's no pressure, it'sfine man, and there's no like
all the pressures, the real lifestuff you have to deal with
when you become an adult.
When you're a kid, you're justplaying ball, having fun, and I
(09:40):
remember, though, the pressureof like in a baseball game.
I wanted it Like if we werelosing in the bottom of the
ninth.
I don't even know how manyinnings you play in the little
league, but just coming to theend of the game, I was hoping I
would be batting.
Like, let me bat.
I wanted, I knew I would comethrough, I knew I could do it
(10:03):
because I had confidence in it.
And same same at the field,like so many people are like
praying the ball doesn't come tothem.
I wanted the ball to come to mebecause I knew I could do it.
I knew we will win.
If he hits the ball to me and I,for those of you who know me, I
(10:25):
love to win.
Winning is important, winningmatters.
So don't come to me and say, hi, winning doesn't matter.
If winning doesn't matter, thenwhy did First National Bank buy
us that scoreboard?
That's all I'm going to say.
I remember a coach told me thatone time, way long time ago,
and, yes, he was right.
Winning matters, man.
(10:46):
So I wanted it.
I want to win.
Hit me the ball.
I didn't know.
That's the only thing I couldcontrol.
I can control what I can do.
I couldn't control what happensif they hit it to little Johnny
Whoever I don't think we had alittle Johnny, that's why I said
that.
But I could control whathappens if they hit it to me.
Then the same thing wouldhappen when gosh I guess it was
(11:10):
the hair man when.
So I graduated high school and Iwas in a band a couple of years
, played with some of thegreatest musicians.
Even to this day I would tellyou they were some of the most
phenomenal musicians ever.
Mo, my brother, mo DanielBoatwright, if you're listening,
man dude, still to this day oneof the best musicians I've ever
(11:32):
played with phenomenal, playedeverything, everything with one
hand, by the way, and that'sjust a side note that don't even
matter but literally has onehand and he killed it.
He killed every instrument.
And then a dude named ChrisRoberts man, phenomenal,
(11:53):
phenomenal guy Played guitarlike behind his back and over
his head, just like Stevie Ray.
Dude was absolutely amazing.
But when I was with these dudesI was so confident and one of
the coolest things we'd beplaying a club, we'd be playing
somewhere, and you're just goingthrough all the mic checks and
(12:14):
all the things getting set upand getting everything in order,
and there's, you know, peoplejust randomly talking and
there's a loud like roar in thecrowd because they're all just
chatting with each other.
No one knows what's going on.
But then when they go to do thesound check on the drums and
that's what I played drums SinceI was nine years old, I've
always played drums that'sanother thing, another reason I
(12:38):
was so confident because it'swhat I grew up doing.
But they would start with that.
They'd say give me the kick.
You know your bass drum.
And you just, and all of asudden there would be a hug,
there would be a hush, come overthe audience because it's like
oh, it's starting and I loved it.
Man, I wanted every eye on me.
(12:59):
I know those who know me nowwouldn't believe that, but I
wanted the attention, I loved it.
And then they'd go, you know,give me the floor time.
And I'd start playing the floortime.
And then, after he was readyand he'd gotten everything where
he wanted it Mike, check wisehe would say just go ahead and
play the whole set.
And for just 30 seconds I gotto just, you know, rip up my my
(13:24):
drums, man, and for 30 secondseverybody was watching me and I
loved every minute of it.
It was just a very special dayand I thought about what in the
world happened.
What in the world happenedalong the way?
Something happened and and Idon't know if it's when we got
(13:45):
Peyton's diagnosis Maybe I lostuh, took my eyes off my where my
hope comes from.
Maybe it's the three hundredforty five pounds when I, when I
gained my weight and it got upto three hundred and forty five
pounds and it was so unhealthyand I avoided every mirror in
(14:09):
the world Because I didn't, likeyou saw and I lost confidence.
So why is confidence soimportant?
Why is it so?
Why am I so attracted to it?
Usually, I think you'reattracted to your polar opposite
.
That's what I found inmarriages and couples.
(14:31):
That's what I found in likesome of the traits that I admire
, but but confidence is one ofthose things that I absolutely
admire.
I just those that have it.
I love it.
Like my wife Is a baller.
Like she's a very big deal inthe business world.
She speaks to huge crowds.
(14:54):
She's spoke to the sold outarenas, like these conferences
at State Farm Arena in InAtlanta.
Anyway, she's just and she useswith confidence and I
absolutely admire her that shedoesn't care what people think
you take her or leave her.
(15:15):
She throws it out there withsuch confidence and I watch her
do that.
I'm like man, that's what Iwant to do Take me or leave me.
I want to throw it out thereand for some reason I lack
confidence.
So I was going to talk a littlebit about that today and
hopefully we can.
Maybe there's just one moreperson out there that's like me.
(15:37):
You'd be so bold to admit itand say any dude Confidence is
hard for me to.
I want to help you with thattoday.
I feel like I have some tips,some answers that will help
stare you in the right direction.
But even as we record thisepisode, at the recording of
(16:01):
this, Dion Sanders If you don'tknow who he is, obviously you
don't know who I am because I'ma sports nut and football season
officially just started thispast weekend and Dion Sanders is
back in division one, collegefootball.
He's got the new gig.
He came over from Jackson stateand he's got the new gig as the
(16:24):
head coach of the ColoradoBuffalo's.
Came in as a three touchdownunderdog, which I already
thought was nuts.
I didn't know that they wouldwin.
Going to TCU I didn't.
I wasn't going to go that far.
But when I saw they were downby three TDs I thought
something's not adding up herebecause Dion's going to have his
(16:46):
boys ready.
That dude is confidence Like.
If you look up Dion Sanders oryou look up confidence in the
dictionary, you're going to seea picture of Dion Sanders.
Or if you look up Dion Sanders,you can see the word confidence
.
That's just it.
That dude oozes with confidenceand I absolutely love it and I
(17:08):
get it.
I get it.
We.
We love to build up people.
And then there's the same ones.
As soon as they get to acertain level, we love to see
them crash and burn.
So I know I lost at least halfthe audience here.
Like, some of you, like cannotstand confident people and
there's a difference.
I want you to hear that.
The cocky people there's adifference.
(17:32):
Okay, confidence and cocky Twototally different things, ergon,
cocky not fun.
Not fun to be around, no onelikes to be around them.
But confident people, everybodywants to be around them because
they just exude confidence.
(17:52):
That's what they do and peopleare like man I want to hang out
with that dude.
And if you want to be moreconfident in your life you know
what you have to do you have tofind people who are confident
and hang out with them.
That's one of the things.
Hang out with people that havethe gifts that you want.
And there's definitely adifference.
(18:12):
And the reason why I think it'sso important is because I
believe with all my heart thatevery single one of you were
created with a purpose I ampausing for effect here.
Every single one of you werecreated with a purpose, with a
mission, with a reason whyyou're here on this earth.
(18:36):
God birthed that dream insideof you, created you with a
purpose, and you will not getthere without confidence.
See, I believe with all myheart John 10, 10 that the devil
, the enemy, comes to still killand destroy.
So what's that mean exactly?
Like for me?
I told you I used to be veryconfident.
(19:00):
I, I I don't know I came from.
I guess I was a big fish in asmall pond, like at my church.
I was the dude, my dad was thepastor and I grew up in I think
I had three different brothersat one point where my different
youth pastors throughout mychildhood and so I had a
(19:21):
connection with my youth pastor,like, like that cause, we're,
we're brothers, and then I wasjust the natural leader of that
group.
I mean, that was my, that wasmy youth group, that was my
group.
So you wanted to come to mygroup, you had to come through
me.
That sounds very confident,right?
(19:41):
That's just how I was.
I was so confident, butsomewhere along the way the
enemy stole my confidence to thepoint where now, before I speak
, before I do podcasts, I amscared to death.
At the same time, I do want youto know God gives me strength,
(20:02):
he helps me, and every time I'mdone, man people will come up
out the wazoo and say how goodit was, how bless they were with
it.
So please hear my heart.
God is still using me the wholetime, but under the water, what
you can't see under the surface, is I am scared to death.
(20:23):
And I think there is there'sthere is some wisdom in that
when you do something that'sbigger than you, it helps you to
lean on God more and helps youto trust in him more, and that's
where our focus should beanyways.
So please hear me.
I'm not saying be confident inyourself, be so cocky in
(20:45):
yourself and, oh, look at AndyHoward, look at what he does.
That's not it at all.
But come from a place of powerand who your God is and who you
were created to be, that he'sgot you.
And if he has you, he wouldn'thave called you to do something
(21:08):
that you can't do.
In fact, that calling it'sstirring up inside you right now
, even as I'm doing this podcast.
You're getting nervous becauseyou're like, oh man, that scares
me.
It scares me to take that jump.
But you know, once you do it,it will be the best feeling of
(21:28):
your life.
And it's the truth.
When I speak somewhere, when Ido a podcast, tiff will tell you
, ask her and I'll be gettinginterviewed by somebody.
I don't know them and I gettheir credentials and it
intimidates me and I'm like, ohmy gosh, this person is such a
(21:49):
big deal.
Right, this person is such abig deal.
Have you seen like their bio isso long?
It's like an encyclopedia.
For those who don't know whatencyclopedias are, I digress.
It's like this massive, longbook of where they came from.
And who am I?
Who am I to be interviewed bythis person?
(22:11):
And I will tell Tiff this everysingle time and I'll be like
I'm just going to cancel, I'mgoing to cancel, I'm going to
call them, I'm going to textthem.
Something popped up Familyemergency.
I can't do it.
I will say it over and over andshe's like no, you're not, no,
you're not.
Kiss me that.
Look, you're going to do it.
And then when I'm done whetherit's speaking at a church,
(22:35):
speaking at conferences,speaking for these podcasts, or
when I'm doing somebody else'spodcast I get off and I'm
exhilarated Like my heart isjust like feels, like heaven is.
It's filled my heart because Iam doing what I'm called to be
doing.
That's why confidence is soimportant to do what you were
(22:59):
called to do.
Wanted to talk about a BrayWyatt and his real name.
That was his.
I guess you'd call it character, his wrestling wrestling name,
his ring name was Bray Wyatt.
But I'll be honest, I did notknow a whole lot about the young
(23:20):
man until he died and I hate, Ihate that.
It happens a lot when someonepasses away.
I will, I will.
I'm just curious.
I want to know more about themand I want to see, like, what
their last post was and whatwere they thinking before they
(23:45):
passed and do they have family,do they have kids, all the
things?
And his name, I'm sorry, hisofficial name, his real name is
Wyndham Rotunda, if I'm sayingthat, right, rotunda.
He played Bray Wyatt from WWE.
(24:06):
He's a wrestler and passed awayrecently of heart some kind of a
heart condition and I'm notgoing to get into all that.
I've seen, believe it or not.
There was already tons ofrumors of how it could have
happened.
It's very controversial.
There's and I don't want tospend this time in controversy
(24:26):
so I'm not even going to gothere but way too young.
Bottom line is he was way tooyoung to pass away.
Thank you, he was 34, maybe 36.
I don't know.
I don't remember, but I don'tmatter.
What matters is, every timesomeone like that, a celebrity,
(24:48):
someone popular, like, scrollsacross my news feed or TV or
sports center or something, itgrabs my heart.
And I'm not saying in placehere, because I know I'm going
to get a hundred of these emailsas well.
Oh, you know, people die everyday.
I get it and that's what I'mtalking about.
(25:08):
This is for the people who dieevery single day.
Not making more to do about acelebrity.
My heart breaks for him and hisfamily Bottom line is you are
not promised tomorrow.
I'm not trying to end this thingon a dark note.
It was supposed to be a happy.
(25:28):
It's the.
This is a 52nd episode.
Why aren't you happy, howard?
Happy Howard, that's my newnickname.
Why aren't you happy?
Well, we don't have tomorrowpromised.
So what are you called to dotoday If they were to look at
(25:53):
your life and let's just getreally morbid for a second.
But this one comes.
This episode comes out onTuesday.
So let me look into my calendarto know exactly what date.
That would be Tuesday,september the 12th.
Here we are, so I'm hopingyou're listening to this on
(26:15):
September 12th, like you'vealready clicked subscribe and
you got the notification andit's Tuesday and you're driving
to the gym or whatever you'redoing with your day and you're
listening to your boy and Ithank you for that.
Thank you for that five starrating as well.
Free plug if you would.
That would help more peoplefind this podcast about hope.
(26:39):
But pause for a second.
October 12th.
What's the very last?
What's the very last post youmade on Facebook, instagram?
Was it something silly?
Was it a cat video?
Nothing wrong with cat videos.
I love them too.
Dog videos something silly.
(27:02):
Some dude crashes golf cart.
I don't know.
Was it a dad joke?
I love dad jokes.
He poured your heart out, likewith a vulnerable pose of
inspiration or hope, I don'tknow.
But my question is it's likeSeptember 12th.
You were gone.
(27:25):
How will your family rememberyou?
I want that to sink in.
How are your friends closest toyou Remember you?
How are those who you workedwith, your neighbors?
Well, they remember the grumpydude kicking the trash can
because he had a bad day.
I don't know, I just kind ofcame to mind.
(27:47):
Like you're oiling the trashcan to the curve and you just
get so mad you kick it.
I don't know, it's stupid.
Well, they remember you as adude that cuts someone off in
traffic.
Or they cut you off and so youlay on the horn.
You're just so mad, you'refurious.
How would they remember you?
(28:08):
Well, they come to your funeraland have to lie to your family
and make up something, be likeah, that Andy Howard was so
outgoing.
I love that about him.
(28:30):
I'm still working on you guys.
I want to be real.
I want to be 100% real.
I want people to know me asauthentic, as vulnerable, as a
person of hope, as a advocatefor mental depression, as an
(28:57):
advocate for those who aredealing with anxiety, as an
advocate for those who areliving in fear.
Dude, I'm done with it and allthe things.
Whatever it is that the enemymay have taken from you.
Maybe it's not confidence,maybe confidence is the least of
your concern, but whatever itis, man, whatever's been stolen
(29:21):
from you, it's time to kick thedoor down.
Take it back.
For me, it's confidence.
So my goal is to keep going foranother year's worth of
episodes.
Let's just do it.
Let's be confident, to speak atmore conferences this year, to
(29:43):
speak at even more churches thisyear.
Who knows, maybe even writeanother put this year.
But I want to do more, becauseI believe each and every one of
us are called to more.
So, as far as tips on how tobuild your confidence, the first
(30:08):
thing I would do is explorebiblical passages that affirm
your identity in Christ, and thefirst one I wanted to read is
taken straight from 1 Peter, 2,9.
And this is the message version, and I love the message version
.
It's just so simple, so easy toread.
So, again, if it's not yourfavorite version, feel free to
(30:31):
go look it up in your favoriteversion.
But for simplicity here I'mgoing to read this.
And it says but you are theones chosen.
So who are you?
Right, you're the ones chosenby God, chosen for the high
calling of priestly work, chosento be a holy people, god's
instruments to do his work andto speak out for him to tell
(30:53):
others of the night and daydifference he made in you from
nothing to something, fromrejected to accepted.
That's who you are.
You might need to rewind thatagain to listen and see who you
are.
There's another one that Ithought was just an amazing
(31:15):
portion of scripture.
It's only three more verses,but it's Ephesians 2, 7, 3, 10.
Again from the message says NowGod, now God has us where he
wants us, with all the time inthis world and the next to
shower grace and kindness uponus in Christ Jesus.
(31:35):
Saving is all his ideal in allhis work.
All we do is trust him enoughto let him do it.
It's God's gift from start tofinish.
We don't play the major role.
If we did, we'd probably goaround bragging that we did the
whole thing.
No, we neither make nor saveourselves.
(31:58):
God does both the making andthe saving.
He creates each of us by ChristJesus to join him in the work
he does, the good work.
He has gotten us ready to dowork we had better be doing.
I love that portion.
So, again, explore those twopassages that affirm who we are.
(32:21):
Who are we in Christ?
That's what matters.
That's how you build yourconfidence.
The second thing I wouldencourage you to do is renew
your mind with God's truth.
Our minds can be filled withsuch negative and self doubt.
However, as Christians, we haveaccess to God's truth that can
(32:48):
renew our minds and transformour way of thinking.
Let's explore what the renewingof our minds with God's truth
looks like and how it can boostour confidence and our self
esteem.
I got to tell you how importantit is to replace the lies, the
(33:11):
negative self talk, the beatingyourself up.
You got to replace that withtruth that only comes from God
and for me and you might noteven be aware how often you do
it it's good to be surrounded bygood people in your life that
are going the same direction youwant to go, that are pursuing
(33:33):
the things you want to pursue.
Like, I always encourage you tobe around five people that are
better than you.
I mean that you're less thanyou know what I mean.
But if you're trying to getbetter at something you want to
be like if I was to be a bettergolfer which would take a
miracle I would surround myselffor those kind of people so I
(33:53):
could learn from them, so Icould find out what they're
doing right.
How do I get better?
Oh, he does this or she doesthat.
I could learn from them.
It's the same thing.
So my wife, who is one that Iadmire, not just for being my
best friend, not just for beingthis amazing leader and a
business leader and a Christianand all the things and confident
(34:19):
I already told you that, right,but she says she would never
let anyone talk to me the way Italk to myself.
Wow, that hits home, right,Like.
So, if some stranger came up toyou and talked to you the way
you talked to yourself, wouldyou let that go?
You would.
(34:42):
I have a feeling somethingwould rise up in you, right?
So why do we do that?
Why do we beat ourselves up?
Let's replace the negativeself-talk with encouragement.
Jump into the Word of God.
See, the enemy is the father oflies.
(35:04):
So all the negative stuffcoming from the enemy himself,
from the devil.
Replace that with truths.
Jump into the Psalms Such agreat, great reminder of where
we should focus and who our hopebelongs to.
Another way to find confidence,or build your confidence.
(35:26):
Number three is focus on thepromises of God.
Focus on finding strength inGod's promises.
Focus on finding strength inGod's promises.
God's promises provide us withstrength to face any challenges
(35:52):
that may come our way, with hopeand with confidence that we
need that all comes from HisWord, that all comes from His
promises.
God's promises can bolster ourself-esteem and our confidence.
A couple of my favoritescriptures, a couple of His
promises that we need toremember.
And if you've ever been inchurch or even around a
(36:15):
Christian bookstore or anywhereChristian art is even so you've
probably seen this scripture,but I absolutely love it.
Jeremiah 29, 11 says I know theplans I have for you.
Declare the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not toharm you.
Plans to give you hope and afuture.
(36:37):
That's His promise.
God can't lie, right?
The enemy is the father of lies.
God can't lie.
It's who he is.
He is truth.
So he can't even lie if hewanted to which he doesn't want
to because he's God.
He's truth.
But he can't lie.
(36:58):
So that's who he is.
So he has plans for youUnderstand on those promises,
plans to give you hope and afuture.
And the other one, of course,philippians 4, 13,.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
That's incredible.
(37:20):
So God's promises, his word, isthere for us to lean on, so to
booster our confidence, and thisis something I am growing in.
My confidence gets better eachtime I do something scared.
I can't tell you that I wasperfect.
If you go all the way back tothe first episode a year ago,
today, I cannot tell you I wasperfect, but I do feel like I'm
(37:44):
in a long way still not perfecttoday.
Can I keep doing it scared?
Can I keep trusting God?
And my confidence is growing.
So I hope this has helped insome way with your confidence,
with a boost of your confidenceof who you are.
Just know that you're loved,that you're special, that you're
(38:09):
important, that you werecreated with a purpose.
And our time is not promised,tomorrow is not promised, so we
have to do everything we can tofollow God's will and I think
one of the biggest, one of thebiggest things you can do to
(38:29):
help that is is growing yourconfidence.
So, anyways, hope this has beena blessing to you.
See you next week.
Hey, I hope that blessed you.
I hope that helped you.
Just remember, your confidencecomes from God.
So, if anything else, connectto Him, lean on Him and he will
help you.
(38:49):
With anything you are facing,he will give you the answer.
He will put people in your pathto make you better at whatever
you're praying for.
So be careful what you'repraying for, because he's going
to do that.
He'll take care of you.
He's not going to leave you.
He can't.
That's not who he is, so He'llnever leave you alone.
He'll never forsake you.
(39:10):
He'll be with you to the end.
So, if anything, link up to Him.
Link up to Him like you wouldhook up whatever you call those
things on a train.
Right, that's a little train.
You know what?
Oh man, totally derailed, butderailed literally.
What are the little things thatgo on trains?
(39:31):
I don't know, but you know whatI'm talking about.
Hook your wagon to God.
Whatever that little portion ofthe train is, hook it up to God
.
Anyways, I hope this has beengood for you.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you haven't got the book yet,it's called when Words Don't
Come Easy and I dive into a lotmore stories about myself that
(39:56):
are just real and vulnerable,but they're meant to give you
hope and meant to give you a wayout through some of the
mistakes and things I learnedfrom.
But a lot of it's about mystory and my battle with
depression.
Some of its own confidence,like we mentioned today, some of
its own marriage help,financial help, but all the ways
throughout my journey where Godhas been so faithful.
(40:18):
So if you are interested inthat, please, you can get that
at AndyHowardcom.
I would love to come to yourchurch.
I will even send a book out anda press kit out to your pastor.
Or, if you are a pastor, pleasemessage me with your address.
I would love to come and sharemy testimony, my hope, and help
(40:42):
the people who are strugglingwith depression.
You can do all that more.
That's at AndyHowardcom.
If you want to listen to thebook, you can get it from
Audible.
It's even on Kindle.
So thank you, guys, so muchAgain.
Subscribe to the podcast, sharethis one with somebody who you
feel like it would be a blessingto, and I would love your
(41:05):
five-star review.
Thanks so much.
God bless everybody.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
If this episode helped you inany way, it would mean the world
to me if you would leave areview and share it with
somebody else.
Thanks so much.
I'll catch you next time.
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