Overemphasis of “Self-Esteem”
“…Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:36-40).
We are hearing it backwards these days. This self-esteem stuff is getting way too much of the spotlight. God-esteem isn’t even a recognizable catch phrase: and what God thinks of me is infinitely more important than anything I could ever think about myself.
Ponder this: Healthy self-esteem either comes as a by-product of doing right or else it is not healthy at all. So it would seem that we ought to quit focusing on how we feel about ourselves and simply set about the life of serving our Lord.
Add this to the mix: Jesus said that even when we have done all the commandments, we are still unprofitable servants who have only done what was their duty to do (see Luke 17:7-10). So, what could I ever do that I could hold up as reason for thinking highly about myself?
When has God ever taught His people to focus on their self-esteem? What He has always taught us is that we must trust in Him and keep His commandments. What we will find is that in living a life of trusting Him and keeping His commandments, cheerfully serving God and our fellow man, self-esteem will take care of itself. It becomes a by-product that no one really pays much attention to or worries about. It just comes. And even as it comes, no one really gives it much thought. As a matter of fact it will probably never be an issue with us at all while we do our best to keep those two commandments.
So we can put an end to the pity parties. We can quit moping and whining, and just do what’s right. And if we don’t want to do that … then we don’t have any right or reason to feel good about ourselves. After all, shame has its place, too. But that’s another lesson.
—Marty Kessler
We are hearing it backwards these days. This self-esteem stuff is getting way too much of the spotlight. God-esteem isn’t even a recognizable catch phrase: and what God thinks of me is infinitely more important than anything I could ever think about myself.
Ponder this: Healthy self-esteem either comes as a by-product of doing right or else it is not healthy at all. So it would seem that we ought to quit focusing on how we feel about ourselves and simply set about the life of serving our Lord.
Add this to the mix: Jesus said that even when we have done all the commandments, we are still unprofitable servants who have only done what was their duty to do (see Luke 17:7-10). So, what could I ever do that I could hold up as reason for thinking highly about myself?
When has God ever taught His people to focus on their self-esteem? What He has always taught us is that we must trust in Him and keep His commandments. What we will find is that in living a life of trusting Him and keeping His commandments, cheerfully serving God and our fellow man, self-esteem will take care of itself. It becomes a by-product that no one really pays much attention to or worries about. It just comes. And even as it comes, no one really gives it much thought. As a matter of fact it will probably never be an issue with us at all while we do our best to keep those two commandments.
So we can put an end to the pity parties. We can quit moping and whining, and just do what’s right. And if we don’t want to do that … then we don’t have any right or reason to feel good about ourselves. After all, shame has its place, too. But that’s another lesson.
—Marty Kessler