Today's Devotional

 

 March 4, 2009

                                                                                                                     

Subject:  Your Self-Esteem Problem 

James 1:23-24 "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."

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My wife told me a story once about going to her mother when she was in her 30's and telling her that she was going to do something or try something, I don't remember what it was, to try to find out "who she was."  My mother-in-law's response was "if you don't know who you are by now..."

I thought about that statement yesterday as I heard a man talk about self-esteem.  He said that the problem with self-esteem is that most people think it means to be happy with oneself.  I think that's the problem we have now.  Everyone thinks they ought to be happy, with themselves and others.  God simply didn't design life that way.

Proper self-esteem is not being happy with who you are, but instead knowing who you are and from God's view, knowing who He wants you to be.  So proper self-esteem comes from looking into the mirror of God and His word and seeing exactly who you are, according to what He says and knowing that He is still trying to bring about change.  

Through His mirror, some days I could look kind of ugly and some days I could look really nice and dressed up.  In every case, I know that my worth is based on what He is trying to do with me and not how "I" feel about myself.

Today, if you aren't looking at the mirror of life through God and His word, then you've got a messed up mirror and it is telling you lies.  If you're believing that stuff, that's why you've got a self-esteem problem.  

Carlen