It may be a common phrase, perhaps sluffed off as some minor personality flaw. A sign of weakness or maybe even deemed pathetic. But the power it holds is far from minor and the priority it can take in a person's life is far from weak.
Webster Dictionary defines “esteem” to set a high value on: regard highly and prize accordingly.
Therefore, low self esteem is to set at a low value, regarded accordingly, and not prized at all.
Low self esteem is simply a lens we look through to compare and determine credibility and worth of ourselves.
So let’s stop and think about this "low self esteem"…
You put on this lens, you look at yourself and your life and somehow this magical lens has the power to influence how you determine your value. Power to convince you that you hold little worth. Power to convince you that you don’t matter, that you are a disappointment, that you aren’t what anyone wants; that you are a screw up… a lens? Has this kind of power??
What if I told you the devil created this lens. That he is the deceiver behind the lens. That he is the author of the lies you hear when you look through the lens.
What if I told you it was a trick? A trick to keep you defeated, discouraged, oppressed… To keep you caught up in the misery of this deceptive reality. That this trick doesn’t actually bear any truth.
What if I told you that you don’t have to believe what you see through that lens? That person you see through the lens of low self esteem does not exist. You are believing a con.
I was thirty-two years old when I finally learned of the con.
[Learn more about understanding the "con" here: https://www.tellingmystory.ca/post/faded-whispers]
I got so angry! I was angry at the enemy for deceiving me for so many years. The damage I allowed and caused in my life because I believed the con was heartbreaking. As I understood the con and how it had affected the younger me, I began to have compassion for the younger me. I had been so hard on her. I constantly made fun of her. Always the first to throw her under the bus if there was blame to be had. I mistreated her with the consequences of bad choices. I resented her, blamed her for the misery in my life and the low self esteem perpetuated.
As I began to believe the truth of who I really was. What God says about me, what God thinks about me, when I let that truth sink into my heart, I began to see myself through a new lens. A lens that could see love instead of hatred. A lens that could see forgiveness instead of shame. A lens where I could love myself; forgive myself.
A lens where low self-esteem was not welcome.
What if you took control of the con? What if you stopped believing it? Stopped making fun of yourself. Stopped criticizing, mocking and disapproving of yourself. How would you feel? How would your life change if you looked at yourself through the lens your Heavenly Father looks at you through?
Did you know that when you accept Jesus' sacrifice, God looks at you through a lens of purity? He sees the “you” He created. The perfect, beautiful you.
What if you set a high value on yourself; regarded highly and prized yourself accordingly? The same way God does.
Ask God to reveal the truth of who you really are. Ask God to show you who He sees. Ask God to help you love yourself.
My friend, you have been deceived. It is not true. The truth is you are a cherished child of God, accepted and loved by Him. See the real you through a new lens.
The Bible says your are “fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalm 139:14
Blessings ♥
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
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