My final post on self esteem is going to be very Bible heavy which is only
fitting since my last post pointed out our dependency on God’s word to
develop proper self-esteem. Our goal as Christians is to follow Christ’s example
and imitate Him in every facet of our life and when it comes to self-esteem
this goal should be no different. Jesus’ example of having proper self-esteem
is all over the pages of the New Testament. It might take a little digging to
pull out how He demonstrated it since that term was not used in the first
century, so let’s dig in!
Jesus Demonstrates
Consistency in Thought.
We talked in the very first post about how important it is to be consistent
in our thoughts about ourselves and not let emotions or circumstances rule the
day. It should be laughable to even imagine Jesus being concerned about a lot
of the things we are: expectations, our appearance, or our past. We know that
Jesus was not physically attractive (Isaiah 53:2), He did not live up to the
common Jewish expectations of the Messiah (John 6:14-15), and His past was one
of poverty (Luke 2:24) and being from the wrong side of the tracks (John 1:46).
With all of these strikes against Him how did Jesus manage not to fall into the
trap of low self-esteem?
First,
Jesus was consistent in knowing His true lineage. Jesus never wavers from His
knowledge as the Son of God. Despite being questioned by government leaders (Mark
15:2) religious leaders (Mark 11:27-28), his own earthly family (John 7:5), his
followers (John 6:66) his apostles (John 14:8-11), even the prophet God sent to
prepare the world for Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 11:2-3). All of these people at
one time or another doubted who Jesus was, but Jesus never hesitated. He knew
that He was God’s Son. No one could take that confidence from Him.
Second,
Jesus was consistent in knowing His true home. He was from heaven and existed
before the foundation of the world. He repeatedly tells the apostles that one
day He will return to the Father (John 16:28). The apostle John writes of
Jesus’ hand in the creation of the universe (John 1:3). But the Hebrew writer sums
up Jesus’ creative power and heavenly home best in Hebrews 1:3:
He
is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he
upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (ESV)
Jesus knew
His earthly past did not matter because He knew where He was going.
Third,
Jesus was consistent in communicating with God. In case you have never noticed
this aspect of Jesus’ character, Jesus was a prayer. He lived a life of
continual prayer with His Father. I counted fourteen passages that talk about
Jesus praying in the gospel accounts, but I don’t think anyone would doubt that
this is merely the tip of the iceberg. I
am certain that what kept Jesus’ thoughts consistent was His active prayer life
and knowledge of scripture. If the Son of God needed that close of a walk with
God, how much more do we!
Jesus Demonstrates a
Focus on Others. We
talked in the very first post about how proper self-esteem causes us to turn
outward. A misplaced self-esteem, either too much or too little, will turn
inward. We can know that Jesus had proper self-esteem because of His focus on
others through service, encouragement, forgiveness, and healing.
First,
Jesus served. If anyone had the right to make others do everything for Him,
then it was Jesus, the ruler of the universe, the only Son of the Almighty God.
Yet in John 13 we find Jesus wrapping a towel around His waist and doing a task
of the lowliest servant. When the
apostles question Jesus’ actions, he tells them, “For I have given you an
example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I
say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater
than the one who sent him (15-16, ESV). Only someone truly confident in
themselves and their purpose could serve others so selflessly.
Second,
Jesus encouraged. Instead of worrying if others acknowledge who we are and what
we accomplish, we need to take a page out of Jesus’ book. Jesus did not need
people to feed His ego or make Him feel good about himself. Did he enjoy
encouragement? Of course, He was human don’t forget! But Jesus made it a point
to encourage others. In Luke 7, a centurion sends for Jesus to heal a beloved
servant, but feels unworthy to have Jesus under his roof. He asks Jesus to heal
the servant merely by commanding for it to be done since He has authority over
all things. Jesus turns to the crowd and says, “I tell you, not even in Israel
have I found such faith (verse 9).” What an encouraging statement for the
centurion! He is being held up as an example to others, not for his great
looks, exceptional leadership skills, or perfect past, but for his faith.
Third,
Jesus forgave. While there are multitudes of passages where Jesus forgives, I
want to focus on one that involved a woman who was in the worst possible
condition. She has been caught sinning, brought in front of a crowd for
punishment, and put on display to test Jesus. I can only imagine how much she
wanted to disappear and how horrible she felt about herself. The people in
charge want to stone her in accordance with the Law of Moses, but they ask Jesus’
opinion hoping to be able to charge Him with some wrongdoing. And Jesus tells
those who have no sin to throw the first stone. Slowly all of them walk away
until only Jesus and the woman are left. John 8:10-11 says, “Jesus stood up and
said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No
one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin
no more (ESV).” The only person who was
sinless and had the “right” to stone her, but He forgives. True self-esteem looks
for opportunities to forgive, not condemn.
Fourth,
Jesus healed. Jesus’ miracles had a reason. They were to provide proof that He
was who He claimed to be. While Jesus performed most of His miracles in public
places with plenty of witnesses, in Mark 1:40-45, He heals a leper, but
commands him not to tell anyone, but go to the priest and offer the appropriate
sacrifices for his cleansing. Jesus demonstrates with this miracle that true
self-esteem allows you to do things without a spotlight. A behind the scenes
servant is what God wants in His people. In fact Jesus warned of the opposite
attitude when talking about the Pharisees in Matthew 23:5-7,
They
do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad
and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best
seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called
rabbi by others (ESV).
As women it
can become discouraging to our self-esteem because we do constantly for others
behind the scenes. We do the laundry, cook meals, teach our children,
volunteer, wash dishes, wake in the middle of the night to deal with crying
babies, create a home for our husband, and as far as I know, there is no
paycheck or award for these things. It can ruin our self-esteem if we let it,
but God promises that He sees what we do in secret and will reward us (Matthew
6:4).
Jesus Demonstrates His
Identity in the Cross.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “the crux of the matter”? We generally use this
phrase when we are talking about the most important part of something. The word
crux is the Latin word for cross. And
just like the crux of the matter is the most important part of something, the
cross was the most important moment in Jesus’ life. On the cross He fulfilled
His purpose and determined His future.
First,
Jesus fulfilled His purpose. Jesus had one reason and one reason only for
entering this world as a man. He was to die sinless and innocent on a cross for
the sins of the world. From the time sin entered the world, Jesus knew He would
one day be required to fix what sin had destroyed, to repair mankind’s
relationship with God and conquer death. This could only be accomplished with a
perfect sacrifice, given once and for all. If Jesus had not possessed proper
self-esteem he never would have achieved His purpose. All that Jesus had to do
could only be accomplished if He kept who He was in the proper perspective. If
He had thought too highly of himself, He was God after all, than He might have
considered dying for humans too beneath Him. If He had thought too little of
himself, then He might have concluded that He was not the man for the job
because God’s plan just wouldn’t work. Praise God that Jesus kept His focus
where it needed to be: on the cross!
Second,
Jesus determined His future. With Jesus’ death on the cross, He was resurrected
to live in heaven again. Paul sums up Jesus’ ministry in Philippians 2:5-11:
Have
this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though, he was
in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness
of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted
him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
(ESV).
Jesus’ proper
self-esteem as demonstrated through being a servant, humility, and obedience to
God led Him to being highly exalted and esteemed. You cannot obey Paul’s
command to “have this mind among yourselves” if you do not work on possessing
the self-esteem that Jesus had and God offers to us today.
When something is very valuable, we
say that it is priceless, but you are not priceless, you are worth the ultimate
price to God, the price of His Son. So live your lives as women of value and
self worth because you are valuable. Not because the world says so or friends
say so or the Christian community says so, or your circumstances say so, but
because Jesus died and rose to make it so.
Striving to have this mind within myself, the mind that is in Christ Jesus, in the treehouse,
Chelli
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