Is it okay for a Christian to trust in himself?

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It seems that a secret group of people seems to propagating counter-Christian things like those who are behind the counterculture movements. I sometimes encounter lessons from TV shows that advises to trust in yourself. But I always thought that a Christian shouldn’t trust himself but God only. What’s the truth?
 
souldiver said:
It seems that a secret group of people seems to propagating counter-Christian things like those who are behind the counterculture movements. I sometimes encounter lessons from TV shows that advises to trust in yourself. But I always thought that a Christian shouldn’t trust himself but God only. What’s the truth?
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I don’t trust in my ego-self, that false-self that is based of fear (Will I be liked, or right, type thinking).
The true-self, God’s spirit in me (God’s conscience of right and wrong) hears both my false ego-self and the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth).
Truth always loving. Truth does not hurt (as some believe), what hurts is the ego-deflation (becoming humble). Where there is truth there is love and humility, certainty, faith, reality, love.

On the other hand, there is fear of the ego-self. It fears its own truth, because it is basically invalid, a fabricated story of self so the mind can make sense of itself. That is why the ego is always seeking validation (listen to me, I know better, etc, etc,). Where there is fear there is deception, tension, denial, doubt, fantasy, …

The Christian to trust himself ought to mean to trust (faith) in ones God given consience to listen to the Spirit of Truth - the Holy Spirit. The truth will set you free - it is calm, gentle, sure, wisdom, unconditional, etc. Where untruths are the opposite.

That is how I discern the truth. It is about trusting the Truth within you.
 
A person of the ‘world’ will trust his own self. But a Christian is to trust in the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.

6
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
 
We are not meant to turn into a quivering bag of nerves!

Surely we must have some attributes that we can take wholesome pride in, and thank God for, and do with confidence, whether solely or interdependent with others.

Maybe we are good at our jobs or hobbies, either solo or in teams.

It’s always rightful to look to God for His help in addition, with all our affairs.

People who don’t believe in God don’t mention the last point but in itself this is definitely not sinister.

However a few manipulative cults try to start by saying something low-key and sensible-sounding like this as a way of drawing in people to follow their further path. If we don’t “package-deal” we are perfectly safe! We only may agree with people as far as we want to agree with them, no further!
 
I trust in God. I trust in what God makes. God doesn’t make junk. I trust in myself to the extent that God made me, God gives me graces, and helps me become my best self. I don’t think it is an either or but a both. 😉
 
“We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies…”

– Book of Common Prayer
Divine Worship: The Missal
 
Which saint was it who prayed every morning. “Lord protect me for I believe my heart will betray you.”

I have failed in so many intentions, that I have little trust in my own aspirations anymore, and yet I don’t stop trying. St. Augustine wrote that we should pray as if everything depended on God, and act as if everything depended on us.
 
Humility means accepting both our foibles and our strengths. If we have been given a gift of a particular skill for instance, it is false humility to not trust in our ability to carry out the task. Similarly it is counter to humility to try to hide our foibles behind an exaggerated sense of self.

We certainly are to trust in God only, for our salvation. We cannot “merit” our salvation, it comes through the free gift of Grace, a gift we are to accept in humility.

If given, however, a complicated task for which we are eminently skilled, it isn’t wrong to trust in our ability to do it, and in fact it would be false humility to refuse to carry it out. Imagine if a surgeon didn’t trust himself, or an airline pilot didn’t trust his ability to safely carry out a difficult flight. Both worked hard and trained long hours to learn the skill, for which God equipped them with the required intelligence and drive.

It is important however, to acknowledge where those gifts come from: God. It is equally important to be thankful for the gifts we have.
 
The definition of “humility” is to see yourself as you are. Thinking more, as well as less, of yourself than what you are is not humility.

So we can and must “trust ourselves” in so far as understanding our inherit dignity as images of God, and using the abilities and skills that God has enabled us with, in order to be an instrumental force of good, and we can and must not trust ourselves in so far as understanding that victory is impossible without God, who protects us from all things, and most of all from ourselves, and provides for us the grace to persevere.

From The Catholic Encyclopedia

*The vices opposed to humility are,
Code: 
pride: by reason of defect, and
a too great obsequiousness or abjection of oneself, which would be an excess of humility. This might easily be derogatory to a man's office or holy character; or it might serve only to pamper pride in others, by unworthy flattery, which would occasion their sins of tyranny, arbitrariness, and arrogance.*
 
souldiver said:
It seems that a secret group of people seems to propagating counter-Christian things like those who are behind the counterculture movements. I sometimes encounter lessons from TV shows that advises to trust in yourself. But I always thought that a Christian shouldn’t trust himself but God only. What’s the truth?
Click to expand...
So really, like often is the case with popular moral messages in the media, it is not intrinsically wrong, but it’s vague enough that it easily could be wrong depending on how you interpret it.

“Trust in yourself”
“Follow your heart”
“Don’t back down”
“Believe in yourself”

They’re all nebulous messages. This usually isn’t coincidental. Publishers, producers, etc., are very conscious of the diversity of ideologies among consumers, and so messages are carefully sculpted to appeal to the largest moral common denominator.
 
Dom Scupoli’s “Spiritual Combat” (which St. Francis de Sales read every day) lists the distrust of oneself as a primary pillar of spirituality.

On the other hand, that doesn’t mean you are supposed to become neurotic. We must be reasonable… Get a good director and, in the words of the Mother of our Lord - “Do whatever he tells you.”
 
To be on guard of ego-self is a form of not trusting oneself.
This helps us to use God’s given conscience, and the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth), as oppose to trusting on ego-will alone.
 
souldiver said:
It seems that a secret group of people seems to propagating counter-Christian things like those who are behind the counterculture movements. I sometimes encounter lessons from TV shows that advises to trust in yourself. But I always thought that a Christian shouldn’t trust himself but God only. What’s the truth?
Click to expand...
It’s interesting that the catechism teaches that, with the original sin, man became divided within himself. When we trust in God we’re actually trusting in our true selves as well, because we’re from Him and of Him, created by Him in his image. As our wills are aligned with His we live in truth. The original sin initiated a different path in man where untruth would reign within him, the untruth regarding who he is, and who God is. To trust in* that* self alone can and does lead into all kinds of divergent views and behavior. Man needs God-as his partner, to commune with. Then our integrity is restored.
 
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