Elevation with Steven Furtick

Episode Title: I Lost My Confidence
Release Date: August 15, 2025
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick (Elevation Church)
Podcast Provider: iHeartPodcasts

Overview

In this episode, Pastor Steven Furtick continues his series titled "Triggered: Taking Back Your Mind in the Age of Anxiety," exploring the complex relationship between confidence and faith. Drawing from Philippians 3, Furtick challenges the cultural obsession with self-confidence and invites listeners to re-examine where true confidence should be placed. Using personal anecdotes, biblical exegesis, and pointed humor, he conveys the message that losing self-confidence can be the gateway to gaining authentic faith in Christ.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Confidence: Definition and Dangers (00:35 – 09:01)

• Text: Philippians 3:1–3, where Paul warns the church about "putting confidence in the flesh."
• Furtick humorously recalls advice from a seminary professor: "It only matters that you say it with confidence"—a sentiment he contrasts with biblical truth.

  “It kind of seems to be the thing these days... it's like we all found a Bible verse, 'fake it till you make it', only it's not in the Bible.” (02:25)

• Explores the dangers of overconfidence, especially when it’s detached from competence or humility. Uses parenting teens as an analogy:

  "There's a fine line between confident and creepy... As a parent, how much confidence do I really want my kids to have?" (03:54)

• Challenges the notion that confidence is always a virtue, highlighting that projecting confidence can sometimes mask ignorance or create division.

2. The Real 'Dogs': Confidence in Religious Performance (09:01 – 11:54)

• Unpacks Paul's warning to the Philippians about "dogs," explaining these are religiously rigorous people urging Gentiles to rely on external markers (circumcision) for righteousness.
• Key Insight: Religious confidence based on external acts is a "perversion of the Gospel."

  “It is a perversion of the Gospel to think there are things we can do outwardly… that will make you acceptable to God.” (08:05)

• Spiritual authenticity is rooted in the heart and faith, not routine or rule-following.

3. False Confidence vs. True Confidence (09:01 – 16:08)

• True confidence arises from perseverance and faith, not from fabricated or externally validated confidence.
• Personal story: Furtick recounts how his youthful confidence was untested until life’s real challenges came—most notably through his father's illness:

  “It's so easy to preach faith when you've never watched your dad take his dying, gasping breath...” (09:52)

• Discusses society’s misplaced value in outward projections of confidence—especially online—and the consequences of "confidence at all costs."

  “The cost of false confidence is ignorance. Trust me, some of the people who are the most confident are also the most ignorant.” (11:36)

4. Confidence, Comparison, and Competence (12:19 – 16:08)

• Commentary on youth sports and dugout cheers highlights the culture of unearned self-esteem.
• Furtick jokes about his daughter’s softball team cheering, "My name is Abbey and you know what I got? I have a team that is hotter than hot."

  “Y’all are not hotter than hot... Y’all are not even lukewarm.” (13:48)

• Critiques the idea that confidence should come without competence or consistency.

  “To have real confidence, you have to have consistency, don’t you? To have confidence, you have to have competence. Competence is built through consistency.” (14:51)

5. Where Do You Place Your Confidence? (16:11 – 21:40)

• "It's not how much confidence you have, it's where you put it that counts." (16:40)
• Illustrates with anecdote about his wife’s wedding ring—just as with valuables, the placement of confidence determines its safety and utility.
• Warns against placing confidence in other people, performance, or discipline, as these are inherently unstable and fallible.

  “Why would you put your confidence in God, in how people treat you? People will always let you down.” (19:19)

6. Paul’s Credentials: Carnival of Comparison (20:06 – 26:48)

• Furtick humorously outlines Paul's religious “resume” from Philippians 3, underscoring the futility of relying on personal merit.
• Paul, though supremely qualified by human standards, concludes these qualifications are worthless compared to gaining Christ.

  “He built his confidence to a certain level. But then something happened to Paul. Paul saw a contrast.” (22:53)

• warns against making judgments or creating spiritual hierarchies based on surface-level observation:

  "We can never really know anyone's heart... Let's stop being so quick to categorize people based on what we see with our eyes." (24:28 & 26:48)

7. A Turning Point: Losing Confidence to Gain Christ (27:53 – 37:28)

• Retells Paul’s Damascus road experience as a metaphor for the spiritual transformation that comes from losing false confidence.

  "Paul said, I lost my confidence. I lost my confidence and I had to start all over." (29:41)

• Paraphrases a message to those suffering from comparison: sometimes you have to "compare yourself to others until you are so sick of it you finally fall off your horse and say, 'God, I’m sick of myself.'" (31:46)
• The real spiritual breakthrough happens when we stop measuring against others and encounter Christ:

  “When I compared myself to Him, I didn’t have anything left to brag about.” (33:00)

8. Letting Go: The Death of False Confidence is the Birth of Faith (36:40 – 43:00)

• Climax of the message: Losing confidence in oneself is not a tragedy but an opening for genuine faith in Christ.

  “I consider [all things] garbage, that I may gain Christ. Take the whole world... But give me Jesus.” (37:00)

• Challenges listeners to let their self-confidence "die" so it can be resurrected as faith:

  “Only after it dies can it be resurrected as faith. I lost my confidence, and I’m glad I did. Because while I was confident in me, I could not have faith in Him.” (39:30)

• Ties the message back to dealing with anxiety—not by building more confidence, but by building greater faith in Christ.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On False Confidence:
  "It's so easy to be confident when you've never lived through a crisis." (09:37 — Steven Furtick)
• On Religious Performance:
  "It is a perversion of the Gospel to think there are things we can do outwardly or behaviors we can quit… that will make you acceptable to God." (08:05 — Steven Furtick)
• On Parenting/Comparison:
  "Just keep comparing yourself to others, until you fall down off your horse and say, 'God, I’m sick of myself…'" (31:46 — Steven Furtick)
• On the True Place for Confidence:
  "It's not how much confidence you have, it’s where you put it that counts." (16:40 — Steven Furtick)
• Paul’s Realization:
  "Now, whatever were gains to me, I consider loss. I lost my confidence. But watch this. I gained Christ." (32:42 — Steven Furtick)
• Letting Go:
  "Only after it [your confidence] dies can it be resurrected as faith. I lost my confidence, and I'm glad I did." (39:30 — Steven Furtick)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Series and Sermon Introduction: 00:35 – 01:27
• Personal Anecdote on Confidence: 01:27 – 03:54
• Biblical Context — Philippians 3: 04:42 – 09:01
• Rebuking False Confidence: 09:01 – 11:54
• Dangers of Comparison and Social Projections: 11:54 – 16:08
• Children’s Sports and Confidence Culture: 12:19 – 14:31
• Building Consistent Confidence: 14:38 – 15:25
• Placing vs. Amount of Confidence: 16:11 – 16:40
• Wedding Ring Anecdote/Application: 17:40 – 19:19
• Paul's Resume Metaphor: 20:06 – 26:48
• Judgment and Comparisons in the Church: 24:28 – 26:48
• Paul’s Damascus Experience: 27:53 – 29:10
• The Descent From Comparisons to Christ: 31:46 – 33:00
• The True Nature of Faith: 36:40 – 37:28
• Closing Prayer and Faith Declaration: 43:00 – End

Conclusion

In "I Lost My Confidence," Steven Furtick delivers a nuanced, energizing message that challenges listeners to let go of self-reliance and discover the security of faith in Christ. Through humor, storytelling, and biblical exegesis, he dismantles the myth of self-sufficient confidence and guides the audience toward "a resurrection faith"—one that is humble, enduring, and rooted not in the flesh, but in the transformative power of Jesus.