Does God want us to esteem ourselves high, or to esteem ourselves low? Is it that simple, or is there more to it?High self esteem in the world of the new psychology seeks to eliminate the guilt of our conscience that results from sin, I think we can all agree that this is definitely wrong, right? Unfortunately, this is exactly what many modern preachers teach when they exclude from their preaching anything that may offend, like preaching on sin. Matthew 23:11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.Before anyone says it, the "love your neighbor as yourself", I see the "love" in this verse not in the context as self esteem, but just the general way we care for ourselves as in this verse... "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:29) We are actually told by Jesus Himself to "deny self". Could it be that we should not esteem ourselves at all, whether it be high or low?1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?John 15:4 Abide in Me (Jesus), and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.Matthew 16:24-25 "if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." What say you?
Does God want us to have a low self esteem?
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If He wants me to have low self-worth He sure is doing a good job of it.
E Nomine, as someone once said there should be a distinction between "Self esteem", [which] is a different concept than the old fashioned notion of basic "self respect".Paul said that without Love, anything that we do means nothing (from the flesh). Biblical Love is selfless. Jesus said that if we deny self and seek after Him and obey Him, we will be given all the good things, salvation , peace, true biblical freedom... (Matthew 16:24-25). And all these while being partakers in Christs suffering, as living sacrifices, in the trials we must face as Christians. Both for our growth, and for the being a light to the world, in Christ, preaching of the Gospel.God does some of His best work in us when He takes us out of our comfort zones. We need to die to self in the correct way, God's way, victorious, not in Satans way, defeated.I quote Spurgeon a lot because he is gifted at teaching these things. That's why his picture is in my avatar.
It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us we are nothing, but that "Christ is All in All." Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you--it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you--it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, thought that be the instrument--it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope; look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep your eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon your mind; when you wake in the morning look to him; when you lie down at night look to him. Do not let your hopes and fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail you."
What do you think?
E Nomine, as someone once said there should be a distinction between "Self esteem", [which] is a different concept than the old fashioned notion of basic "self respect".Paul said that without Love, anything that we do means nothing (from the flesh). Biblical Love is selfless. Jesus said that if we deny self and seek after Him and obey Him, we will be given all the good things, salvation , peace, true biblical freedom... (Matthew 16:24-25). And all these while being partakers in Christs suffering, as living sacrifices, in the trials we must face as Christians. Both for our growth, and for the being a light to the world, in Christ, preaching of the Gospel.God does some of His best work in us when He takes us out of our comfort zones. We need to die to self in the correct way, God's way, victorious, not in Satans way, defeated.I quote Spurgeon a lot because he is gifted at teaching these things. That's why his picture is in my avatar.
It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us we are nothing, but that "Christ is All in All." Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you--it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you--it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, thought that be the instrument--it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope; look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep your eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon your mind; when you wake in the morning look to him; when you lie down at night look to him. Do not let your hopes and fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail you."
What do you think?
Does God want us to have a low self esteem?
No, He just wants us to be truthful. The truth is not so pretty when it comes to our own humanity. We have to struggle to do what is right.love, hitomi
No, He just wants us to be truthful. The truth is not so pretty when it comes to our own humanity. We have to struggle to do what is right.love, hitomi
My self-esteem is in Christ. You dear children are from God and have overcome them,because the One who is in you is Greater than one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4
God wants to humble the proud pharacies of this world and build up those who are down trodden .He does this through his law and gospel message.remember the bible story of the proud pharasie who prayed like this thank you God that i am not like these sinner's. and the despised tax collector who knew he was a sinner and did not even dare look up to heaven But asked for God's mercy forgivness .JESUS himself said the rightious man was the one who knew he was a sinner and needed Gods forgivness .He was the man right with God.He is the one Jesus built up as a model for the rest of the down trodden.Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom i am the worst.Jesus God the Son became sin for us and took the punishment on the cross we deserved and he freely Gave us sinner's his perfect rightiousnessin exchange for our sin's . When we stand at judgement before God through trust in Jesus alone for our salvation . we stand in the perfectness of God the Son's own record of perfection not our sinful one .Did God buy us back from sin death and the devil with only earthly treasures of silver and gold .or did he pay the ultimate price for us.? His own lifes blood?what does that do to self esteem?
I struggle with this sometimes. Here are some key points that I think on. Dave already hit some of them. 1.Remember that the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin and it will be very specific, so as to lead you to repentance. 2.Satan condemns you of your sin and it is general, like,"You are a loser. You will never be anything. You might as well forget it. Life isn't worth living."3. Sin depresses you, lowering you sense of self-worth. Sin always takes you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you want to pay! It's like a rabbit going into a briar patch. You can be forgiven, but you have to deal with your consequences. You can pick your sin, but not your consequences. The rabbit can get out of the briar patch, but not without pain.4. Focusing on others by thinking of how many kind things you can do does deter depression. It keeps you from the "poor pitiful me" syndrome. It helps you to think of how others may be feeling and how you can help to minister in Jesus' name. My pastor said one time that a good self-esteem is not thinking too highly of yourself or too lowly of yourself. It's simply NOT THINKING of yourself at all. This hit me in a profound way.5. Physical activity helps you feel better too. It is a proven stress reliever.6. Definitely know who you are in Christ. Spend DAILY time with Him by reading His Word. Replace Satan's lies with Bible truths/promises so that when you hear a lie whispered in your ear, you can replace it with a scripture to counter attack the enemy. 7.Make sure you have prayer partners to help you if you need someone to talk to and to help encourage you. You need people to pray for you. You also need them to keep them accountable for areas you struggle in.I hope theses things help.
(Dave...;16070)
Does God want us to esteem ourselves high, or to esteem ourselves low? Is it that simple, or is there more to it?High self esteem in the world of the new psychology seeks to eliminate the guilt of our conscience that results from sin, I think we can all agree that this is definitely wrong, right? Unfortunately, this is exactly what many modern preachers teach when they exclude from their preaching anything that may offend, like preaching on sin. Matthew 23:11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.Before anyone says it, the "love your neighbor as yourself", I see the "love" in this verse not in the context as self esteem, but just the general way we care for ourselves as in this verse... "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:29) We are actually told by Jesus Himself to "deny self". Could it be that we should not esteem ourselves at all, whether it be high or low?1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?John 15:4 Abide in Me (Jesus), and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.Matthew 16:24-25 "if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." What say you?
God wants us to be humble and walk in love towards God and people, But He also wants us to see ourself as God sees us, "In Christ" The majority of the ten spies who went to spy the land came back with an evil report, They said, "We can't do it, we see ourselfs as grasshopers" But Caled said "We can do it". He saw himfelf as God saw him.
Does God want us to esteem ourselves high, or to esteem ourselves low? Is it that simple, or is there more to it?High self esteem in the world of the new psychology seeks to eliminate the guilt of our conscience that results from sin, I think we can all agree that this is definitely wrong, right? Unfortunately, this is exactly what many modern preachers teach when they exclude from their preaching anything that may offend, like preaching on sin. Matthew 23:11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.Before anyone says it, the "love your neighbor as yourself", I see the "love" in this verse not in the context as self esteem, but just the general way we care for ourselves as in this verse... "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:29) We are actually told by Jesus Himself to "deny self". Could it be that we should not esteem ourselves at all, whether it be high or low?1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?John 15:4 Abide in Me (Jesus), and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.Matthew 16:24-25 "if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." What say you?
God wants us to be humble and walk in love towards God and people, But He also wants us to see ourself as God sees us, "In Christ" The majority of the ten spies who went to spy the land came back with an evil report, They said, "We can't do it, we see ourselfs as grasshopers" But Caled said "We can do it". He saw himfelf as God saw him.
Yes, He wants us to have a low-self esteem. Because that's the true sinful us.Because after He alone have lifted us up from our low self-esteem we'd know that the world revolves around Him, not us.
The Quote holds wisdom...not the wisdom of this world, where many ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth...As with so many things there's a fine line...a balance or...a Truth we miss on both ends of the spectrum...but to define it is the thing....Maybe it's the full acceptance God gives and shows us...how in His eyes and in Him we are perfect, and in this knowing of who we are in "His" eyes and in His Love, yes, we are dead...crucified with Christ, but yet we live, yet not unto the flesh as in the days when we were yet strangers, but in and unto His Spirit...where we are so whole, so full of what Life really is, which is...Love and joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. There's no longer a worry of man's acceptance, so that we are measuring ourselves against men and "seeing" then ourselves in a reflection of human pride, and even to see ourselves without any esteem is to see with pride...because pride is what sees man and not God.So if I say I have no esteem does it make me Christ like or if I say I have alot does it? Neither; it's when I see "in myself" the Spirit of God...even in my mortal self, that I have esteem in the person of Christ who I have become more like...If I esteem the person I have become or parts of that person anyway, there is a humbleness in that I know I could not be this person on my own at all, yet there is pride in a God who is able to do such a work in a helpless sinful man...but I would rather call it marvel...the word Pride is so scary...it's what made satan fall as lightening from the heavens...and it's what makes us fall....You said it Dave...let's not hurt anyone's pride by talking about the enemy that wants to keep them in death and ultimately put their soul in eternal death (sin)...but let's be political and acceptable and be nice. But how nice are we being if we keep back the Truth that gave us Life? The world says we need Pride...well, we do need some measure of liking of ourselves...but we will like ourselves alot more the more we see the likeness of Christ in us... and we will like other people alot more too.Yet still I can see the realities of how people suffer from lack of esteem...been there...but no longer worry so much about it...because of knowing that I am what God chose to make me, and so are others...and if we are acceptable to him...we ought to be acceptable to ourselves and accept others who he also made.............................Siskim
Hi Enomine,In Matthew chapter 5 . . . the Sermon on the Mount chapter . . . Jesus taught, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He did not mean blessed are those who have low self-esteem. He meant blessed are those who are not lost in self-righteousness, but who submit themselves to God and obey His laws.The result is that the soul who takes that attitude Jesus taught will have a very good and honest picture of himself as a sinner, but as one who admits that fact to God and asks Him for the forgiveness He has provided through the cross of Jesus Christ.Then you'll have a proper and stong self-esteem which comes from a clear conscience and a solid relationship with God who is the one who "lifts up your head."Do you want to know who are the ones who have low self-esteem? They are the souls who live in their own sinful ways, thinking that they are Good, when, in fact, they are terribly deceived.waynemlj
Mankind's greatest problem is that we have too much self-esteem and need to get over ourselves in order to subject ourselves to Christ. Self esteem is just another name for pride and is a sin, while only the humble will enter the kingdom of God.SealedEternal
MickinEngland
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In one episode of Star Trek New Generation, the Enterprise discovered a kind, hospitable elderly man and his wife living simple peaceful quiet lives together alone on a pleasant uninhabited planet.However, towards the end of the show, Picard discovered that this modest, unassuming old man was in fact "a being of immense power".Christians can borrow a moral from that, namely that although we're nice friendly modest self-effacing good-natured people, underneath we're "God's elect", creatures of tremendous spiritual power, world-beaters, the most advanced life-forms in the material universe.So how can knowing that possibly make anybody have low self-esteem??"And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other" -Matthew 24:31"However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name" - 1 Peter 4:16"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" -2 Cor 10:4"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of selfdiscipline" -2 Tim 1:7"Who is it that beats the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" -1 John 5:5
Jon-Marc
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(E Nomine;16078)
If He wants me to have low self-worth He sure is doing a good job of it.
Same here. I do know He said not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. So how highly ought we to think of ourselves? Where do we draw the line between having a healthy self-respect without thinking TOO highly of ourselves? I've known some very boastful Christians who had a very high opinion of themselves, and also seemed very proud of their humbleness. :naughty:
If He wants me to have low self-worth He sure is doing a good job of it.
Same here. I do know He said not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. So how highly ought we to think of ourselves? Where do we draw the line between having a healthy self-respect without thinking TOO highly of ourselves? I've known some very boastful Christians who had a very high opinion of themselves, and also seemed very proud of their humbleness. :naughty:
Self esteem, hmmmm, i dunno about this one. I am weak, pitiful, and a mere man. Through Christ, I am something better. To follow Christ is a great honor, to serve Christ is even more greatness. I may look upon myself and see low self esteem, but when i see myself backed by Christ, I see high self esteem. Knowing that where i fall short the good lord will give me the ability to go further and that I have a loving and powerful Savior and God by my side makes me feel better about myself, even in the worst of situations.
I think the issue is not so much low or high esteem, but God-esteem instead of self-esteem.As an ex-Christian, i have no right to comment, but I'll express a personal opinion, anyway.I think it is important to remember that God made you. And whatever God made is to be held in the highest respect. God made you capable of sin and God also made it impossible for any human (with one exception!) to be without sin. Therefore, I see no reason to blame yourself for the fact of being a sinner even though it is a serious matter. It is also important to remember that God loves you. He made you through love, and what he made was exactly how he intended you to be. You are not faulty because that would mean God made something imperfect. But love does not create a child with the intention that the child should suffer for no purpose or to deliberately hurt the child. Therefore, the purpose of sin is greater than simply to show you your dark side so that you might hate yourself thoroughly - what use is that?It is also important to remember that God disciplines those he loves. What is the purpose of discipline? To destroy and put down? Or to correct, improve, and build up?So what is the purpose of sin and being shown your sinful nature? The New World cannot function as this one does, nor can it function by law. It functions through a unified love, compassion, empathy and justice. Sin teaches us that ultimately there is no other way than God's way. Therefore I think that Christians should have a healthy and positive attitude towards their bodies, minds, hearts and spirits. There is nothing negative in God's work in you, be pleased that you can see it at work and learn from it that which God wants you to learn in your process of growing daily more like Christ. Christ is what humans can be and are intended to be. If you are on your way there, then, no matter how far you still have to go, be happy with it and be proud of being a child of God.At least you know where you are going and what is waiting for you there - and with that knowledge how can you be filled with a low-esteem? And if you have a low self-esteem, you are also holding something God made with great love in low-esteem - do you really want to do that?
Hi Kalixx,According to the way you talk, you show a good knowledge of the spirit of the Bible, and you speak of the one "sinless" man . . . you must be referring to Jesus.I have to ask you one quesion.Why do you call yourself and ex-Christian?waynemlj
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