The Antidote to Low Self EsteemI can remember playing sports at recess when I was a kid, and as sides were chosen up my friends would be raising their hands and saying, “Pick me, pick me.” I always felt bad for the last person to get chosen for the team. They were usually the uncoordinated one who didn’t have a lot to bring to the plate, but I felt bad for them nonetheless. Maybe you can relate.
Here is something that you may not have considered before; Elohim, the Creator of the heavens and the earth CHOSE YOU before the foundations of the world! He picked you to be part of His family, and you said, “Yes!”
[God] hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Ephesians 1:4
What a wonderful day it is when you come to the full realization that you are the purpose of the ages. You are the reason for the universe. God’s desire for a family is why He put the stars in space and created a beautiful planet called Earth. He put all this together for His pleasure. He chose you. And you bring Him pleasure - just let that sink in to your heart for a moment. You can bring God pleasure. No one ever taught me that in church!
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things [including you], and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Revelation 4:11
If we get that one truth right, low self-esteem would go out the window. God chose you! No award, no medal, no amount of money, or worldly success will ever come close to the exhilaration that you will feel in your heart when this truth really sinks in.
You are loved by God, you are wanted by God, you were planned for by God. He did not create you to live like a neglected orphan, but to live holy and without blame before Him in love. He created you to be His favored child, the recipient of His unlimited love, and to have a blessed life.
You and I are here because God wanted to have a family that He could love, both now and for all eternity. There is nothing more important in this world to God than you. And because He is God, He can feel that way equally about each and every one of His children. We need to grasp this amazing truth in order to have the right attitude about who we are in this life, because attitude is everything.
When I was a kid I loved nothing more than exploring the woods with my two best friends, Joannie and Joey. With an army canteen full of water and a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches between us, we would trek through the lush pine forests of north Georgia for a whole day at a time.
One day we happened upon an unfamiliar forest on the other side of town. We didn’t bring our usual provisions, and we only meant to be gone for a short time, but about fifteen minutes into our journey our peals of laughter turned into panic . We suddenly realized we didn’t know where we were or which way to go to get back home. We looked up to get our bearings and realized that these trees were taller than normal, and very closer together. The canopy was so thick that we could not see the sun, or shadows, to get our bearings. There were no special clearings we had passed along the way, no identifying rock formations, no streams, just flat pine forest; everything in every direction looked exactly the same. In a word, we were lost!
In the woods that day I most certainly did not know where I was going. I did not know where home was. To this day I can vividly remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Of all the countless hours we had spent in the woods, this was the first time in my life that I was completely seized with fear, my mind was in a panic, and it felt hard to breathe.
Obviously we made it out alive because here I am, writing this story, but I bring this incident up in light of Ephesians 1:4.
[God] hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Ephesians 1:4
God loves you. He chose you before the foundations of the world. Without that understanding life can feel pretty much like being lost in that forest. You look around and everything looks the same; eat, drink, work, play. Which way do I go? Why am I here? What’s the point anyway? Without knowing that are loved and wanted by God, life can seem pretty aimless.
Knowing the truth that you are here for a purpose gives you direction and bearings in life. Knowing that you are here to be part of God’s family, both now and for eternity, gives you an anchor for your soul. I John 2:25 says, “And this is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life.” Knowing that there is more to life than 80 years and a hole in the ground gives you hope and a future. Proverbs says, “where there is no vision the people wander aimlessly.” God’s word gives us vision, aim, and purpose.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:1-4
Our Father has good plans for us both now and, in the future. If the Lord has such an amazing life planned for us in the future, is there anything too hard for Him to give us right now?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
You are not here on earth by blind chance or evolution, but by the Creator’s will. You are here to choose to live with God, both now and forever. The Author of all life designed the universe to house His family, the royal family of God. Science has no adequate explanation for creation, but God does. And that explanation is you. When you stare up at the Milky Way galaxy at night you need to realize that it is there because of you, to give you signs in the heavens, to mark seasons, and days, and years for you to live by.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Genesis 1:14
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19:1
And here is the real kicker, the heavens, in all their glory, are God’s handywork, but you are God’s masterpiece. In other words, if you look upon the heavens with a sense of awe, you should look in the mirror with even a greater sense of awe, because you are God’s crowning achievement, His masterpiece.
For we are his workmanship [poiema - masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
With that thought in mind let us embrace the reality of how important we are to God. We are born to be born again into God’s family, and He has made all the provisions necessary for that great event.
You were born to become part of God’s royal family and to have dominion over the earth. (Psalm 8:1,3-9) You were created to reign on earth as a reflection of your Father, Who is in heaven. Included in that dominion is the power to perform miracles, heal the sick, raise the dead, and any other supernatural feat necessary to carry out your Father’s will here on earth.
Perhaps some of you ar thinking that I have lost my mind, that I am on some kind of an ego trip, that I am placing more importance on man than God does. But it is God Who said that He made you a little lower than Himself for glory and honor. Read these words from the sweet psalmist David very slowly and let them sink into your heart as truth.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels [Elohim - God], and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all thing sunder his feet:
Psalm 8:3-6
God is the One Who placed you in a position to receive glory and honor - not me. He has given you dominion over the works of His hands. And so this is not an ego trip but an incredibly humbling experience because I realize that I did NOTHING to deserve it! I owe all that I am, or ever hope to be, to my heavenly Father, through His son, Jesus Christ.
Satan has been trying to steal a sense of godly righteousness from man ever since the Garden of Eden. The Serpent wants to crush man’s self esteem. It ‘s time to take a stand and boldly proclaim:
I am what the word of God says I am,
I can do what the word of God says I can do,
therefore, I do.
Believing the truth about yourself is the antidote to low self esteem. You are a child of the Most High God. You are the apple of His eye. You are the purpose of the ages. You no longer need to wander aimlessly, but look only unto your heavenly Father, and follow His plan for your life.
Love and Blessings,
Peg