There are days when many people struggle with their self esteem and feeling valued and of worth. Sometimes we can just feel pleeby, and on a really bad day a total failure. It’s days like these that we need to be kind to ourselves and treat or pamper ourselves. To schedule in some rest time, be around positivity, talk to God and seek to do something for ourself that we wish someone else would do for us.
When however feelings of low self esteem, low self acceptance and the constant need for others to validate us dictates our thoughts, emotions and decisions on a regular basis we need to look at why.
Often the root cause of low esteem and self acceptance is because a person has believed at some point that they are not good enough and they are in some way flawed. This could have been because of how a person has perceived the world around them, especially when young, impressionable or at times of vulnerability. Other people’s words, behaviour, the media, and how a person has processed and interpreted circumstances all affect their self esteem and acceptance.
As a child I was small, often unwell and very shy. I would wait to enter a room last when out with my family, so as not to be noticed. I didn’t want to be seen, because the image I had of myself was that I was flawed, and like a little insignificant bump on a log. It was only when I discovered that I was deeply loved by God and this truth began to work in my heart and mind that I gradually started to see myself differently. As I’ve spent time with God by myself and taken the time to study His Word and let it permeate my thoughts and reactions to situations I have found that my self worth and acceptability does not rest in what I can do or have even achieved. Instead it is in how much I am loved; that God wants to be my friend; that He loves me, regardless of how many times I fail and mess up, and that He wants me to be blessed and to succeed so much so that all of heaven is actually involved in my life to help me do that.
God’s been planning good things for us to walk in before we were even born, and step by step if we trust and walk in step with Him He will equip and bring our way those opportunities that will fulfill and enrich our lives far more than we could possibly imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
Today be encouraged that God loves and accepts you, and that all of heaven is cheering you on. Take some time to spend time with God, read what He says about you in the bible and let these truths shape your self esteem and worth, because in God’s eyes you are marvellous.
“But you are the ones chosen by God…God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you – from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted”. (1 Peter 2:9-10 The Message).
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14)
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. (Romans 5:8)
Prayer: Lord please help me to spend some time with you today and discover more of what you say about me in your Word. Thank you that you love me so much and that I am special in your sight. In Jesus name Amen
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