Well, tonight we're going to take a look at the subject of a biblical self-image or self-esteem. Self-esteem or self-image, and that philosophy has become a significantly large part of our society. It has entered all areas of our world and has found great acceptance in the area of It has found great acceptance in the area of education, and it has found great acceptance in the church and in spiritual truth. Not only has it been taught by the counseling, education, religious communities, but many individuals will self-diagnose the reason they are unsuccessful, the reason they are not reaching their potential, the reason they are struggling in their faith. It's because they don't love themselves enough or they have a poor view of themselves. And so not only are they being taught it, but there's a self-diagnosis of low self-esteem or poor self-esteem or a low self-image. They don't love themselves enough or they don't feel have feelings of worth about themselves. And they look at their skills and their accomplishments and their status and their financial resources or their appearance or whatever it is. And they think poorly about it, and then they begin to believe that because of that, they are unsuccessful in other areas of their life. And so then the goal of the counselor, the goal of the educator, the goal of the spiritual leader, then is to help the counselee, the individual appreciate who they are and to begin to help the individually practically love themselves or to raise that esteem level. And that becomes the job of the educator, the counselor, In the past, the philosophy states that when this is accomplished, then they will be able to handle life's trials and overcome the problem areas in their life. And so that's the that's the issue. And that's what we're hearing from the from outside of these walls and within the walls of the church. So our topic of study this evening is to look into that subject of self-esteem, self-love, self-image, whatever we want to call it. and research it from a biblical perspective. What does the Bible say about self-image? What does the Bible say about self-esteem? Do we need it? Is it something that we struggle with? And I want to be able to answer the following questions when we're done. How should we view ourselves, I think, is an appropriate question we ask ourselves. What does the Bible say about self-love? How does a lack of self-esteem or self-love affect our life and the goal of becoming more like Christ? I think that's a legitimate question to ask. And how do we deal with the problem of low self-image? What if we look at our life and we are saddened by who we are? We compare ourselves to others and we see ourselves less than what we do. What does the Bible tell us to do? And how do we help folks that are in a similar situation? How do we help them? I want to begin by sharing why we should be a little suspicious of the self-esteem philosophy. I want to take a look from where it's coming from and what it's communicating. I think in both of those, it'll it'll get our guard up a little bit before we jump into everything that it teaches. I think there's several reasons for a believer to be suspicious about this philosophy. Number one, it's been unheard of until recently. The major components outside of the church were born in nineteen hundreds right at the beginning of the nineteen hundreds. It began to get into the issue of the church in the seventies. And so in the world, we didn't hear about it until the nineteen hundreds, the middle nineteen hundreds. And we didn't hear about it in the church until the seventies. And think about all the poor people from early from eighteen ninety nine and backwards that didn't have this understanding. Anything that's new scares me. and when it comes to truth, and so I think there's something to that. It's never been held by the church number two. That's not something that has been communicated in the church. As a matter of fact, as Paul is looking As Paul is looking to the end times, he gives a declaration of what it's going to look like. He says in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 and 2, but realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. So as we move closer to the end, as we move farther from the cross, difficult times will come for men will be lovers of self. Lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful and unholy. In this list of characteristics of godlessness, there is this discession of being lovers of self. As we look at the Bible, number three, historical Christianity is the very opposite. It communicates the very opposite of a self-love. In Philippians, chapter two, verses three through four, it says, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with the humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. He's saying in the way in which you love as you consider other people, the way you consider other people is you think of them more important than you actually think of yourself. Throughout the Scripture and throughout this, the call of the gospel is to deny yourself. Matthew chapter 10, it says in verse 38, lose your life. In Matthew 16, 24, deny yourself. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 22, it says, lay aside your old self, in which your old self is seeking to please all about the things, the pleasures that you have. In Romans chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, it speaks of the judgment for those who seek selfish ambition. Philippians chapter 2 verses 20 through 21 tell us to denounce men who seek after themselves. And in Proverbs 3, 5 through 7, it tells us don't lean on your own understanding. Lean on the understanding of God. Don't trust yourself. Don't trust in yourself. Don't trust what you are. Trust in God. And if we really understand the philosophy that's being communicated, what it's telling us is that the problem itself is a lack of love for self rather than the issue is sin. Many have replaced this theory with what the Bible says is the issue of sin. And sin keeps us from where we want to be. Sin keeps us from ministry. Sin keeps us from being conformed to the image of Christ. And this is saying that it is a love of self. And I think number five, and maybe this is just overarching of the whole thing, it really steals glory that belongs to God, because in the process of it, as we dig down deep, it's glorifying who you are. In Jeremiah chapter nine verses twenty three to twenty four, thus says the Lord, Do not a wise man. Let not a wise man boast in his wisdom and let not the mighty man boast of his might. Let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things. declares the Lord. Let not the mighty man boast of his might. So, this individual is mighty and the wise is wise. He says, don't boast in that, but boast in the person of God. So, where did this Where did this teaching come from? Where did this philosophy come from? Well, it came from both outside and inside the church. From outside, we have individuals like Eric Fromm and Abraham Maslow and Rollo May. All of these individuals are considered the third force of counseling of psychology, and they all speak of this love of self and understanding of self and appreciation of self that then leads you to success in life. The problem with these three individuals is that they were they were contrary. They hated religion. They hated God. They hated Christianity. What is really interesting is that normally in the discussion of counseling, the name in which most believers burn an effigy is Freud. And Freud probably was the one who got it. He said, we're disgusting people. We have inner desires and wants and we're disgusting. And he actually got this more so than these other individuals. So, this third force movement took the doctrine of man to the precise opposite of biblical anthropology, that man is inherently good. And again, Freud understood the concept of a perverted man. So, it came from outside of the church, but unfortunately, from the seventies on, it's been preached within the church. Now, we may argue about the level of evangelical that some of these names are that I'm a quote, but these are considered by the world Christian Robert Schuller in his book Self-Esteem, The New Reformation said, What do I mean by sin? Well, the answer any human condition that robs God of glory, how by stripping one of his children of their right to divine dignity. Any act thought that robs myself of self-esteem. So what is what is sin? Sin is when you don't think rightly about yourself, when you don't think highly of yourself, when you don't understand yourself. Classical theology, he said, has erred in its insistence that theology be God centered, not man centered. Reformation theology failed to make clear that the core of sin is a lack of self-esteem. This is being proclaimed as doctrine within the church. Zig Ziglar, who is known for his motivational tactics, but is known as a Christian in his book, See You at the Top, said, If we accept ourselves, vulgarity, sloppiness, profanity, promiscuity will disappear. If we accept ourselves, if we believe in ourselves, if we love ourselves, if we trust in ourselves, then vulgarity, sloppiness, profanity, promiscuity. Thank you. That was really easy for me to say will disappear. Really? I don't think that's what the scripture says. He says, and see you at the top, list your positive characteristics, review them in a mirror, repeat them, brag on yourself, assert yourself. One of the professors at Rosemead School of Psychology, which is on the same campus as Talbot and Talbot is an evangelical seminary, one that we would speak highly of, one that communicates the gospel, one that that speaks clearly. One of their professors says depression always has a loss of self-esteem in the foreground. Be slow to direct a depressed person to the scriptures. No preaching. I would recommend a recess from church if there is a preaching done in church. Why? Because preaching points to sin. Preaching points to conviction. Conviction makes you feel bad. When you feel bad, you'll be more depressed. And so even from a evangelical seminary school of psychology, this is some of the things that we're hearing. Some of our greatest Christian voices have fallen into this trap as well. Here's a quote from a prominent Christian that we would grab arms with. We would love and we would move forward with in many of his books that he wrote. But he writes this. If I could write a prescription for the women of the world, I would provide each of them with a healthy, healthy dose of self-esteem and personal worth. I have no doubt that this is their greatest need. You believe in a majority of Americans experience low self-esteem to one degree or another, assuming that be true. What are the collective implications of that poor self-concept answer? It has serious implications for the stability of the American culture because the health of an entire society depends on the ease with which its individual members can gain personal acceptance. Thus, whenever the keys to self-esteem are seemingly out of reach for a large percentage of people, as in the 20th century America, then widespread mental illness, hatred, alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, social disorder will occur. Personal worth is not something human beings are free to take or leave we must have it and when it is unattainable Everybody suffers a lack of self-esteem produces more symptoms of psychiatric disorders than any other factor that's from a Individual that we as a church would say yeah, we support much of what he communicates through his books So how I mean we can we can pretty much out-of-hand say, well, the world is going to be the world. They're going to have a different truth. But how can this humanistic teaching become acceptable in the church? Well, I think there's two types of things. The first one is they go to passages and they they use them as proof text and they say, see, it's right here. And two of them that are turned to many times are Matthew twenty two versus thirty five to forty and Psalm one thirty nine versus four through sixteen in the Matthew twenty two passage. A lawyer is asked, the lawyer asked Christ a question. He says, Teacher, which is the great commandment of the law? And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commands depend the whole law and the prophets. Where they get this is you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And you can't love your neighbor until you've loved yourself, because loving yourself is the way in which you love your neighbor. So if you can't do that right, then obviously you can't do the other right. And so this is a passage that they turn to. But the problem with that is Jesus says there are two great commandments. He says the great commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor. He doesn't say there's three commandments. The third to love yourself. Jesus does not command us to love our neighbor and ourselves or and our wives, but he says we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. The assumption is that you are already pretty good at loving yourself. You've got that one down. You may feel bad about yourself. You may look at yourself and compare yourself to others, but the reason you feel bad is because you love yourself and you want yourself to feel better. You provide for yourself. You try to protect yourself. And it is the recognition of an appeal to an already existing form of self-love. So Jesus isn't saying you can't love your neighbor until you love yourself. He's saying, love your neighbor the way in which you love yourself. And I already know you got that down pretty good. It's not commanded because it already exists. The second passage that often is turned to is Psalm 139, verses 14 through 16, I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. And my soul knows it all. Well, my frame was not hidden from you when I made when I was made in secret and skillfully rot in the depths of the earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance and in your book all written the days that were ordained for me when I when as of yet there were none of them. Look, you look, I'm I'm I'm I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I am wonderful. But he doesn't say, I am wonderful, the focus is on God, the focus is on what he did, the focus is on how God constructed us. We feel good because of who we are in creation, but it is God who should be esteemed. We are we were created in his image and his image should be glorified. So these are the wrong proof text, but there's also wrongly approved true. So so they go to these passages and they say, see, love of self is important, but then they they take concepts and they say, see, this is important as well. They would argue that Christ's death proves your worth. You were worth dying for. Last week, I'm driving to school and I'm on 102.7 and my kids are in the car. And as we're driving, there is a song that says, I am worth dying for. I nearly crashed. I said, kids, what did you just hear? And they said, I don't think we're worth dying for. I said, yes, you got it. That's right. We're not. That's the whole point. That's the amazement of the cross. That's the amazement of God's love. Amazing grace. It's amazing because we didn't deserve it. God got such a good deal and he died because we were worth it, but that's not what the Bible says. Grace is unmerited favor. It is given to those that don't deserve it. Spend time in Romans one, spend time in Romans three, spend time in Ephesians chapter two, verses one through three, and you will see that we were not worth dying for. In Romans chapter 5 verses 6 through 8, it says, For while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, but perhaps for the good man, someone would dare even die. But God demonstrated his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. An implication is that we are not the righteous man that was being talked about. So four different times in those three verses. Paul makes it very clear that we were not worth dying for. They would argue not only that we would that Christ death proves your worth, but they would argue that you should feel good because of who you are in Christ. Well, I would agree with that as well. All you are in Christ should lead you to love yourself. Now, it's not wrong, it's not a bad thing, I think, to be able to evaluate. I mean, that's what Ephesians one is all about. There is this ongoing. Eleven verse sentence that Paul gets overwhelmed in all that he is in Christ, but he keeps saying in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, I've received this in Christ, I've received and the whole thing is a blessing to God. Who I am in Christ doesn't make me feel better about myself. Who I am in Christ makes me feel better about God. It makes me amazed by who he is and what he's done. As a matter of fact, God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong and the base things of the world. And the despised and the despised. God has chosen the things that were not so that he may nullify the things that are so that no man may boast before God. First Corinthians one versus twenty seven through twenty nine. Galatians, chapter six, verse fourteen, but may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world Has been has has been crucified to me and I to the world, the issue is. That God deserves this praise that, yes, we have been blessed and we have received so much and and we are to be thankful and we are to feel good about what has been given to us. But it's about him. So what is what is a scriptural understanding of self-esteem or self-worth or self-love? Well, the Bible teaches that we should focus much more on who God is than on ourselves, but it is important that we have an accurate understanding of who we are. Self-image is important and self-image is a biblical command. Turn with me to Romans chapter two. We'll kind of park here for a few minutes and then we'll we'll jump around in the few minutes we have left. In Romans chapter twelve in verse three, it says, For though the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. But to think so as to have sound judgment. As God has allotted to each a measure of faith. The emphasis of this verse is on our thinking and in the original language, the word to think is used four times in different ways. He wants us to think the concept is that we are to think about who we are. In fact, the verse could also be translated. Do not think highly above what you want to think, but think right. Thinking about yourself. Think right, thinking about yourself, there is a way in which we are to view ourselves. Who are you is a question that God wants us to ask and that that there is an answer and self-image or self-esteem really is a conclusion of what we've come up with. Who are we? What does God want us to be? How do we rate according to God's standards? What has God made us to be? So the concept of self-image can best be classified as a judgment one makes as he evaluates himself. It's a judgment one makes as he evaluates himself. The object of the Christian, therefore, is not to have a good or a positive self-image, but rather the Bible calls us to have an accurate self-image. This verse calls believer to make a sober assessment and are Here, the Bible tells us that the believer is commanded to do two things in this verse, to have a humble view of himself and to have an accurate view of himself. Do not think too highly of yourself because he knows that's where we're headed. He knows that's where we're headed. Paul doesn't mention the possibility of thinking too lowly of yourself because he knows our tendency is to esteem ourself more than we should. There should be a humble assessment. This is why the Scriptures never command you to think more highly of yourself or to like yourself more or to love yourself more. If our works or our ability to obey the great commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself, to be to be conformed in the image, if it was tied to self-image, if it was tied to how we think of ourselves and love ourselves, I would assume that if it was that important, we would find it in the Scriptures. We're to have a humble look at ourselves to understand who we are and to be willing to look at the dirt that the Bible speaks of. But he also says that along with a humble look, there's to be an accurate look to buy. Paul commands us to have a biblical anthropology. There is a sound judgment, a right thinking about ourselves. It is to to understand what the Bible says about us. And so we're called to have an accurate view of self, not a good view of self, not a positive view of self. So what does the Bible say about you? Well, there's two roads we could go. And we can spend a lot of time, which we don't have on it, but there are two dramatically different roads we could go and think about the answer. We could go down the road of all that we are in Christ and what Christ has made us. We were created in his image, and so therefore we're image bearers. We are adopted by God, and so we're children, and the one who awaits a heavenly inheritance. The Bible says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we're a piece of the heavenly temple, and that we're priests in this temple. We could go down there. The Bible speaks of all those things. It speaks of the worth of life. Why is life so important to us? Because it is the image-bearing individual that we end their life, and life is important. But the contrast to that set of truth is the truth that speaks of our nature before Christ, or it speaks to our flesh. And we could go down that road and that road is that we're dead in our trespasses and sins and that our heart is deceptive, deceptively wicked, and that our flesh cries out for satisfaction. And until we depart this earth, we're trapped in that fleshly body. We could go down that road. One road, if we go too much and we're not balanced, leads to pride. The other road, if we're not balanced, leads to depression and being desperate and being discouraged. And being despaired, we gain this accurate picture of ourselves only through a proper understanding of God. So to have the right view of self, you cannot have it without the right view of God. When we have a biblical understanding of God, we will have a biblical understanding of ourselves. Just for example, the Bible says we're a new creation. Think with me about what we know about the redeemed man from the Book of Romans and this new creation, we have a new position in Christ, we have a new nature in Christ, we have a new uniqueness in Christ by way of gifts and abilities, we have a new usefulness in Christ. And yet, our position is based on his grace in which we stand. Our position is based on imputed righteousness from Christ. The new nature is in his life and in his spirit. The uniqueness is due to a sovereign, unconditional choice of us. And the new usefulness is from his power working through us, through his spirit and the gifting that he bestowed. All true confidence comes from God. And Paul begins and ends Romans chapter 12, verse three, with reference to the necessity of God's work within you. If you are to accomplish anything good, it begins with God. It ends with God. We get a right view of self when we compare ourselves to who God is, when we understand God's greatness. It is then and only then that we see our weaknesses. And we know that we are to turn to him for strength when we see God's holiness. Only then do we understand our sin and our need for forgiveness. When we see God as creator, then and only then will we see ourself as his creation and that we were created for him. And that way we can quickly go over to the fact that, yes, I am a slave for him. But it's only when we understand who God is. The scripture teaches the scripture teaches that you should not be seeking to improve your self-esteem, but you should be learning how to esteem Christ and our primary focus should be on ours, not on ourselves, but on God and that we should esteem him higher. We see him as an example and we follow him and we imitate him. When we think of ourselves, it should be for the purpose of examining and evaluating ourselves and according to the scriptures so that we can see what we need to change in order to better please the Lord. So just a couple of things by way of practical help, as we think of biblical self-esteem, number one, remember the biblical self-esteem or self-image is not an emotion or shouldn't be, but it's a judgment, it's a conclusion and emotions. flow out of that conclusion. The objective of the Christian is not good or positive self-image, but of accurate self-image, who am I? So what do I do when I feel bad about myself, when I have poor self-image? And here's what I would encourage you to do. It's been very helpful for me. Write down your inferiority judgments, write them down. No one loves me or cares for me. I'm too short. I can't do anything right. I am a terrible husband. I don't have a high IQ. I'm lazy and disciplined. I don't manage my time well. I'm a slow learner. I am not good at public speaking. I don't sing well. I'm not a good athlete. I'm slow to acknowledge my faults. I have a quick temper. Write those down. And then classify each judgment In the appropriate biblical category, and there are three that I would encourage you to put them under. Number one is category. Number one is inaccurate perceptions. Inaccurate perceptions, number two, accurate perception, but not sinful. And number three, accurate perception and sinful, because this this is really the focus of having an accurate view of yourself. Number one, those things that fall under inaccurate perceptions. What are those? No one loves me and cares for me. And so I must counter those things that are inaccurate perceptions with the truth. What does the Bible say, the Bible says that love or that God loves so love the world that he gave his only begotten son, and I take what I believe about myself and I take it to the scriptures and I say, is this true? Is this true? And you confront it with truth and you go to someone that you respect and that you value their biblical understanding. And you say, this is the way I view myself. What does the Bible say about it? So the issue is truth. The issue is teaching them how to change their perception, to teach them the truth. Those things that fall under category two accurate, but not sinful. These must be countered with an issue of trusting God and his sovereignty. Accurate, but not sinful, I am too short. You are short, that's accurate. But there's nothing sinful about shortness. You go to the scriptures and you go, who has God used that was short? What examples do we have of short people? This is not a sinful thing. And so you then focus in on trust. Look, God made you short. He worked your genes in such a way as you were not going to be in the NBA. You need to help them know God. You need to help them understand and trust that he is sovereign and that he is wise and that he is the master potter shaping clay exactly the way he wants it. And so it is accurate, but it's not sinful. Category number three, accurate and sinful. You are a bad husband. OK, now, what does the Bible say? Confession and repentance. And you begin to work on those things. Yeah, you're accurate. The reason you don't feel good about yourself is because you're a bad husband. Why are you a bad husband or a bad husband? Because you don't treat your wife well. There is a there's an issue of change of behavior and motives. I'll just I'll finish up with this so we can spend some time in prayer. I think another thing to do to help us as we. Have a better way in which to view ourselves as we meditate on God's truth and we develop biblical values. We need to remember the doctrine of positional sanctification. God saves us and at that moment we are declared righteous judicially. And at that moment in heaven, when we see him face to face, we will be like him and we will be glorified. But in between, there is this thing called progressive sanctification, where God is conforming us into the image of his son, and it's going to take as long as we live. And we can be confident of one thing that he who began a good work will will continue it and will will make it happen. And that this thing called progressive sanctification, we will never be what we want to be. We will never be what we absolutely could be. We will never be what we will be in heaven. And you have to meditate on that. You have to trust in that. You have to believe in that. That sanctification is not a moment you hit at this moment when you're perfect and you're without sin. You need to remember that godly character and faithfulness is more important to God than outward appearance or human abilities. God looks at the heart of man, not on the outside. God looks at your faithfulness. What does God require? He talks about it in First Corinthians. He requires faithfulness. He requires a steward. And he's talking about what does God require? He says that all I require is that you're at the bottom of the boat. And when the boat when someone hits the beat, you row. He's talking about which of these personalities in First Corinthians chapters one through three, which personalities do we do? You know, am I a Paul if I'm a Paul? Look, it's not about that. It's about you being faithful. I think we need to identify and we need to use and develop the gifts to serve others and reproduce in them the character of Christ. We need to stop spending hours mourning over the gifts we don't have. Identifying and recognizing the gifts we do have and using them. There's the parable of the talents, right? He gave one to ten, he gave one five and he gave one one. If you're the guy who got five, don't you look and go, God, why did I not get ten? I got five. Well, he used the five and God looked at him and said, Well done. Good job. You used what I gave you. And that's what we need to do, but so often we spend time, but I didn't get his giftedness. I didn't get her giftedness. I want to sing. I want to I want to be able to speak in front. I want to and we forget to look at what God has made us and to be faithful with what we have been given. And I'll just close with this. I think we need to remember to glory in our infirmities. And our weaknesses, knowing that God's strength is made perfect in those weaknesses, we spend so much time fretting over our weaknesses and when God has over and over said. I use weakness to to glorify myself. And to focus in on God's glory. Next Sunday, we'll look at the story of Gideon in church in the morning. And that's his whole point. He had this group of warriors, and they're about to go fight, and he said, that's too many. And so send anyone home who doesn't want to fight. So they all go home. 10,000 goes home. Then he's like, OK, now pick these guys that drink a certain way. And so now there's only 300 people. That is a weak army. But God said, look, it's about me. I don't want anyone to take credit for this. I want to be glorified. And so as we look at our weakness, Those inferiority complexes that we have are great opportunities for God to be glorified. As you think of yourself, remember that God made you very specifically for a very specific purpose. And to trust in him and to evaluate those thoughts according to what is scriptural. And when you are when one of those happens to be that you're not doing what God has called you to do, then there is change needed, but sometimes We just need to trust that God has done this for a reason, and one of those reasons we can be sure of is that it brings honor and glory to God. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for just a reminder that it is about you. It is about our knowledge of you. It is about our esteem of you. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for allowing us to participate in that that task of bringing honor and glory to you. Father, I pray that we would have accurate views of ourselves. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.