Growing in Self-Esteem

Negative/bad self-esteem puts believers under condemnation and that puts them in a bad place instead of where God intends for us to be. In order to keep from going astray, we must recognize and confront our sins, acknowledging that they are there, BUT you can/will overcome them. You must also always acknowledge His beautiful sacrifice, knowing that it is the reason we are able to have a personal relationship with Him. Realize that God does, in fact, deeply care about us and accepts/loves us ALL of our strengths and our weaknesses. This will give a fresh perspective!

We do have to ask ourselves: why do I/we worry so much?! We worry that we won’t be fed or given enough water to drink, yet the Lord takes care of the birds, so why wouldn’t He take care of us? We’re more valuable than birds. Why do we worry about clothes/working to buy our clothes? He causes flowers and grass to grow, and He also provides for them, so of course He would clothe and take care of us. I’ll ask again: why do I/we worry so much?! How little faith I/we have!! If we seek after His Kingdom first, He will give us everything we need and so much MORE!

Common Prerequisites/Requirements for Healthy Self-Esteem

• Recognize the need of a Savior (Isaiah 53:6); He took away our sins so of course we need Him.
• Accept being “in the One he loves” (Ephesians 1:6 & Romans 8:1); Jesus, and our eternal life through Him, was given freely to us.
• More forward in God’s plan for your life (Philippians 3:13-14); forget what’s behind you, and move forward with His plan for your life, and willing done so.
• Have a realistic view of yourself (Romans 12:3); think of yourself with sober judgement, and how God sees you. But don’t think higher of yourself than you ought to.
• Avoid comparisons to others (2 Corinthians 10:12); this is not wise, so don’t do it. Simple.

People with Healthy Self-Esteem

• Resting in ownership by God (1 Corinthians 3:16); we are literally His temple, so don’t mistreat it.
• Submitting to being the handiwork of God (Ephesians 2:10); he has already prepared in advance, the work we are meant to do.
• Appreciating the differences of others (1 Corinthians 12:1-31); everyone has different gifts, so instead of being anxious/trying to copy their gifts, find your own and learn how to do them properly and find your place in the body of Christ. He has placed us exactly where He means for us to be. None of us were put here/made/put together without a reason, without a purpose. We are meant to have equal concern for all the parts/people of the body; it’s how God wants it, so we should want the same.
• Willingness to take risks and steps of faith, no matter what they are/how dangerous they may be (Esther 4:13-16). Have an Esther mindset when facing possible death and/or destruction: “If I perish, I perish.”
• Forging good relationships with others (Ruth 1:16-17); be willing to do anything for anyone/everyone.
• Self must be “seen” as created for His glory. Accept whatever lot you are given in life.
• God never makes mistakes, and He is never done working in and through you (1 Peter 5:10).

When the Savior touches a negative, it turns into a positive; when he touches tragedies, He turns them into triumphs. I’m seeing Him grow me more in regards to patience, rest and vulnerability; I know there’s a lot more progress to be made, but I’m willing to let Him change in me whatever He wants. As far as patience goes He is making it more bearable, and is making it easier to just accept His love and comfort as He molds me into who He designed me to be. He is making me patient with myself, helping me to know/showing me that there are still some things that He needs to heal in me.

Since we have informed parents, and are safely in Craiova, Romania, I think that it’s safe to say that we are currently quarantined. Yes, it stinks, especially since we have really only seen people out our windows, even though my team and I love to see two other teams right from the hall inside of our door. However, we are all being taught how to rest and I absolutely love how good God really is. He saw how tiring our first travel day was, how hard our squad leaders, team leaders, and logistical team worked to get us to Craiova, and we all needed rest.

Plus, it’s better to be quarantined at the beginning of our race than in the middle, at the end, or right when we left Georgia; if we had gotten COVID at launch, we would’ve had to stay in Georgia for two additional weeks and that would’ve stunk, just because we would’ve felt very defeated and disheartened. At least we can enjoy the beauty of Romania from our windows, and that we get to have good bonding time within our individual teams. Lastly, vulnerability is a strong quality that’s being expanded in me day-by-day; it’s getting easier to share with my team, to let them get to know me and love me, as well as getting to know/loving them in the ways they like to be seen. I’m excited to see what God is going to do through the rest of this quarantine, but definitely keep praying that we won’t have to start over and that it will be smooth sailing from here.