This blog definitely goes in a completely different direction than anything else that I've written in here. But I figured, hey, why not....
The Epiphany
For several years, I struggled with insecurity. I not only didn't think much about myself, but I figured not very many other people did either. On top of that, I was pretty sure God wasn't too happy with me. I sinned a lot, I had struggles, I wasn't nearly perfect.
But then one day, I had a realization that slowly morphed me and began the change that is still going on today. I realized... God isn't mad at me.
It may seem rather trite, but it made all of the difference in the world. When I made a mistake or fell into sin, I no longer cowered in the corner, waiting for a lightning bolt from heaven that surely had my name on it.
Of course, further revelations followed that...If God isn't mad at me, then maybe he actually kind of likes me. Whoa, that's a strange thought. It took a couple of years before I could grasp that. But that thought led to others such as God doesn't just kind of like me, He's absolutely crazy about me. And He made me the way that I am...
The Creator of color
Let's look at that from a biblical perspective. God made man and woman, in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). If you look at this passage closely, you see that he is talking about man and woman, and not just man, or a man. The noun used is plural.
What does that mean for us? Quite a bit, but we'll keep it simple for right now.
I look at it this way. You can take white light, run it through a prism, and get a multitude of colors. The colors come from the original source, the light, and not the prism. God has taken special parts of himself, and put those different parts into us. This applies in many different areas.
Man and Woman
Together, a man and woman represent the personality more so than just a man or just a woman ever could. Why is that? Because God has made us each with a divine set of characteristics.
So why didn't God just give us each everything to make us totally like him? Because he wants us to be humble and need each other. Once again, we are a reflection of him. God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, all work as one, in unison, together they make the Holy Trinity. The Trinity is a complex and fascinating thing, but I won't delve into that in this blog.
Man, woman, God...together we make a perfectly functional trinity.
I am made in His image
Going back to the top. God doesn't make mistakes, he made me just the way that I am. God loves my personality. Realizing this brought so much more self-esteem. Why would God love my personality? He made it, it is a reflection of a part of who He is.
Like the prism, our different personalities and tendencies are merely the different aspects of our wonderful, deep Creator. God obviously has no reason to hate himself, so why would he hate you?
I believe God is the perfect balance of all of the different personality and beauty that we see on this earth.
Pick up your head
Lift your head and smile. Know that God has made you exactly how He wants you. He's not mad at you. He's absolutely crazy about you. If God is angry at anyone, it's at the devil for convincing His children that their Father doesn't love them.
Does that mean that we don't need to change any? Does that mean we should keep going on as we are because, "Hey, God likes me just the way I am"? No and no. There's always room for improvement, but improvement comes so much easier when you know God's cheering for you.
I caution you about your emphasis on self-esteem
ReplyDeleteJesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The poor in spirit are those who do NOT have a high opinion of themselves. Moses felt completely inadequate for the job God called him to do but God didn’t rebuke Moses for having such a poor self-image. Rather, He told Moses to stop focusing on his inadequacy and focus on God’s adequacy! David said, "Lord, who am I that thou should come to me?” Isaiah said, “I am a man of unclean lips.” These statements indicate “poverty of spirit.” These are people who did not esteem themselves highly. Judging them by today’s standards, we might say they had a problem with low self-esteem. It's as though Jesus is saying, a low self-esteem is a good thing. But it is not a matter of 'hating' yourself.
How do we become 'poor in spirit?' The answer is that we do NOT look at ourselves. We do NOT begin trying to change ourselves. We do NOT even concern ourselves with who we are. But Who Jesus is! When Paul said "it is no longer "I" who live, but Christ in me", it does not sound like he was concerned with self-esteem!
You definitely make some points worth considering here. First off, let me say that the self-esteem issue is both right and wrong. Let’s start out with the definition of that word.
ReplyDeleteThe dictionary defines it as "Pride in oneself; self-respect" which I believe is what you were talking about. Your way of using it is probably more “book-accurate” than mine. To me, a high self-esteem is simply believing that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, it is faith and hope walking hand-in-hand and shining through your very being. It is having boldness and confidence because you know that if God is for you, who can be against you. In many ways, I think we are both saying the same thing; but we are getting caught up on the term "self-esteem."
I would say that I have a decent self-esteem right now. The reason for that is that I know who I am in Christ. It has NOTHING to do with me or what I can do; it has everything to do with Christ in me.
Our society has attempted to teach self-esteem based on humanism, and it is wrong. We have been taught that self-esteem is believing in one's self, but that is not how I think of it. That can lead down many dangerous roads of pride, including someone thinking that they do not need God because they are ok.
There are many Christians who have a low "self-esteem" because they have a lack of faith and hope. They believe they're saved, but they don't believe God will ever use them. Many of these Christians are being called by God to minister in some way, but they won't do it because of their low "self-esteem" and their fear of failure. They wallow in self-pity, and they waste the gifts and talents that God has given them.
Your Biblical examples that you mentioned are amazing examples of how God can use us no matter our circumstance. I believe we can be poor in spirit and still have faith and hope in God and our future (aka, my definition of “self-esteem). So anyway, I think we’re both sort of on the same page here. God bless!