Confident Humility: Becoming Your Full Self without Becoming Full of Yourself

This is finally an emotionally intelligent approach to the problem of pride that leads us toward God’s love as expressed through the cross and away from trying to secure our own worth. Our value has been quantified for all eternity and our task is simply to agree with Jesus who thinks we, every single one of us, are worth dying for! We are all equally valued at an unsurpassable worth. The author lays out these truths in a relatable and clear manner while attending to the painful realities of what evil so often attempts to rob from us—our dignity and the dignity of every image bearer on planet Earth.

Have you ever read a book that compelled you to look at what you have been practicing and think to yourself, “Oh shit! I have been doing it all wrong”? For me, Confident Humility by Dan Kent, is that book. In order to become your full self, you have to resist that urge that justifies becoming full of yourself. How do you do this? By practicing confident humility- a third option. An option that most of us have seemingly already been introduced to but fail to put into proper practice.Kent takes us through a tale of two ditches, the Ditch of Smallness and the Ditch of Bigness. The Ditch of Smallness reflects the idea that nobody gets a trophy; whereas the Ditch of Bigness reflects the idea that everybody gets a trophy.Now, before you assume, like I did, that this book would speak to a possible tension of the two- finding a balance between two ditches- let me stop you right there. As Kent points out, “you can’t be in both at the same time.” These are ditches we are talking about. If you are in one, you cannot be in the other. “And once you start into either, it’s easy to end up at the bottom.”There are very few books in recent years that have impacted me so deeply as this book has. It has helped me break down the concrete of my original foundation so that I could restructure my base in such a way that I remain grounded. I am beyond grateful for his literary and theological contribution.I highly recommend this book for everyone, whether you are Christian, Buddhist, Atheist, or Muslim, this book is a life-changer.

“Speaking profoundly from his own experience of having been born and reared by an early-teens single mother (herself tossed to & fro between childhood & motherhood) situates author Dan Kent squarely in the center of the often misguided teachings (especially by the American church) on humility & confidence. With echoes of Alfred Adler’s theories of superiority (Kent’s ditch of bigness) & inferiority (his ditch of smallness), Kent offers the Christian psyche a way to view itself and others as utterly equal in all things. I found his psychology astute, and his theology refreshingly pragmatic; a necessity more vital & timely in a culture where any mention of “self” only conjures the word “selfie,” and all of its grotesque compensatory inflation and hyper-focus. In Confident Humility “equality is reality,” an indelible truth about our very being and core identity. And how we chose to live out this truth—in a world drowning in a sea of emerging identities—couldn’t be more important. Kent’s book is an urgent reminder of the available roadmap that will guide us. And we all need reminding!~DJ RohlingPsychologist & author of FORD’S CROSSING, and the forthcoming RAINE HART

Solid theology and a genuine guy.

I've read lots of books on humility in my lifetime and have preached humility in churches for years. I assumed I knew what it was. But I also struggled deeply with shame (and had for much of my life) - a sure sign that I actually didn't understand biblical humility. And then I found Dan's book and everything changed! Dan writes with penetrating insight, deep clarity, humor, and concrete examples to drive home the point that humility is NOT the opposite of pride (as is often believed); rather, it's the opposite of BOTH shame AND pride - and the human tendency to find ourselves in one of these two "ditches": Team Smallness or Team Bigness. Dan then goes on to explain what the road of humility with Jesus looks like instead. I am forever grateful to Dan for writing this book and freeing me to understand my true identity before Jesus as one who is deeply loved.Buy this book. Read this book. Share this book with your friends and talk about it together, and enjoy the life of freedom that comes as a result.

Such a great book. If you read it, you'll know what I mean.

As a former D1 basketball player and now 4 year professional athlete I can say without hesitation that this has been the best book I have read regarding healthy, sustainable self-confidence. I have struggled with the concept of godly confidence and humility regarding identity, spirituality, work and relationships for years now, and had all but given up my quest of searching for the possibility of somehow merging the two seemingly opposing forces of confidence and humility in my day to day life when I finally found this book. I have been a fan of the author’s work previous to this book’s completion so when he introduced its release I was optimistic. The book exceeded expectations.In Confident Humility, Dan Kent uses personal experiences, tangible application of truth, and practical wisdom to paint an all-encompassing, beautiful picture of wholeness that I have returned to several times now for encouragement. Warning: if this book’s content is heeded, freedom from “can’t” is inevitable. Enjoy!

It starts as an interesting perspective on humility, then turns into preaching. Very opinion-based, rather than research. Over-simplifies many concepts, repeatedly, in order to prove a point. Very disorganized and confusing, sometimes contradictory in my opinion. No practical information on how to apply concepts to daily life, lots of info on how not to live. Felt like listening to a sermon at church.

Confident HumilityReviewFirstly this book has hugely affirmed my belief in the innate value, uniqueness and potential of each person and the need and contribution of each person to ‘Experience being Valued’.Secondly the book has also affirmed the concept of ‘Story Building’ and introduced ‘Confident Humility’ as a central value of ‘Value the Person ~ StoryBuilding’ as a needed experience for the Prince or the Pauper!Thirdly the book affirms the need for ‘serious fun’ in our interactions with others - our intentions should be serious but unless we have some kind fun and humor along the ways we will limit them!.Last but certainly not least Dan points to the person of Jesus as the ultimate teacher on our journey through life.PS After reading the chapter on equality I had the idea of stating ‘Make America Equal Again’ at the end of the book I rephrased this as ‘Make the World Equal’ - period!PPS The book also affirms the GK Chesterton saying ‘The source of happiness is always found in gratitude’.30 years after reading Tony Campolo’s book ‘Everything You’ve Heard is Wrong’ and listening, retelling and imagining the stories of individuals who live between Pittsburgh, USA and Kigali, Rwanda (and we all live somewhere between these two cities) I am full of gratitude for Dan Kent’s offering!