7/13/2012 The Total Package: Self AcceptanceScriptures: Matthew 10:29-31, Psalm 139:14-18
When we love God, we start learning to love ourselves and have a healthy attitude towards others. As humans we all have three basic needs: self-worth, intimacy with God and intimacy with others. Today we are going to look a the first: self-worth. Self esteem is defined as what we think about ourselves and it basically comes from four sources: 1) The world around us: our life experiences shape how we see ourselves 2) Our inner world: our senses, emotions, intelligence and spirituality. 3) Satan: his desire is to use our fears and inadequacies to belittle us. 4) God and His Word: the only true and pure healing power to effect us. So what happens when our self-esteem is damaged? 1) We begin to develop negative thinking patterns- we begin to believe harmful things about ourselves and they become part of our daily lives and thoughts. 2) We can adopt an opinion that is contrary to God's opinion- He sees us as His children and loves us for who we are and who we are becoming through His power. 3) We begin to produce pain in our lives: grief, oppression and a block aganist the flow of God's spirit in our lives. So how do we accept ourselves and build a positive self esteem? The Bible says it this way: "I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." We must remember that we were created by God's unique design. We must love ourselves like Jesus loves us: unconditionally. We must remember that the process of His workmanship is ongoing: He has begun a good work in us! We need to learn to be gentle and patient with ourselves: allow ourselves to grow and change. Allow God to work and accept His opinion of us. He knows that we are valuable and He wants us! Learn to be honest with ourselves and be proud that we are children of the King! Finally share love with the people around us and help them along their way! We can replace a negative self-image with a positive self-worth when we allow God in the equation! Comments are closed.
|
Archives
April 2020
Categories |