What God Has Taught Me About Self-Esteem

< Back to blog index

What God Has Taught Me About Self-Esteem

Guest Blog by Hannah Butler

I’m fat, I’m ugly, I’m weird, no one likes me, my nose is too big, my nose is too small, my hair is too curly, my hair is too straight, I’ll never get good grades, I’ll never amount to anything,

I can’t lose weight, I can’t be a better mom, I can’t read my Bible every day, I can’t___ (fill in the blank).
Have you ever thought any of those things before? It’s more than likely that you have at some point or another. It’s unfortunate, but true, that we all have or do deal with low self-esteem.

Why is that?

As a Christian, and someone who loves the Lord, shouldn’t it be easy to accept ourselves the way we are? It just isn’t that easy.

I want to share with you what the Lord has taught me about self-esteem, and I want you to be encouraged by these realities:

• Yes, you CAN.
• You ARE beautiful.

Definition of self-esteem: Confidence in ones own worth; an individuals’ evaluation of their own worth.

What is low self-esteem? It is a lack of confidence and feeling badly about one’s self.

High self-esteem is the opposite. It is feeling more than confident, pretty much to the point of tearing others down and assuming that you are better than them.

God tells us from His Word that He wants us to have balance in life.

“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” (Proverbs 11:1)

God doesn’t want us to have high self-esteem because it only makes us prideful. But He also doesn’t want us to have low self-esteem because it makes us depressed. He wants us to be right in the middle, which is obtaining self-esteem. Not too much and not too little.

We’re going to look more in-depth at low self-esteem as it is more commonly what us women tend to struggle with the most. We need to understand some things about low self-esteem first, and then we’ll know how to overcome it and how to be content with who we are.

What are some signs that you may have a low self-esteem?

1. Not being able to speak up for your own needs. When we are willing to take the blunt end of things ALL of the time, allowing ourselves to repeatedly be wronged, it most likely is because we don’t believe we have a voice. We feel as if we are somehow less than others.
2. Apologizing excessively. Excessively apologizing is a result of assuming that you are a bother. YOU are not accepted and everything YOU do is wrong or annoying.
3. Not being able to look in the mirror. Hatred or disgust towards your outward appearance
4. Critical and abusive internal dialogue. What you say to yourself and about yourself, says a lot about your self-esteem.
5. Constantly comparing yourself to others.
6. Constantly trying to please everyone no matter what the cost may be.

What are some possible side effects of low self-esteem?

1. Self-hatred – Anger towards yourself that you aren’t the way you want to be. This is a prolonged state of being unsatisfied and feeling that you can’t truly be happy until you achieve a certain goal or look.
2. Self-harm – This can be seen in people who punish their bodies for various reasons. It might look like starvation, cutting, or other forms of punishment.
3. Suicide or suicidal thoughts – When a person hates themselves and they don’t know their purpose in life, this may lead to wondering about the point of life overall.

What is the source of this struggle? A lack of knowledge of who we are in Christ.

Who are you?

1. You are God’s creation. Whether you know Him, believe in Him or not, He created you. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27) “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
2. If you know the Lord as your Savior, you are His child. “For ye are all the children of God BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.” (Galatians 3:26)
3. You are unworthy but not worthless. There is a difference! God said you were worthy of being created and even worthy of dying for! “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Think about this with me: There are no two people on this whole earth that are exactly the same. We know that there are twins and doppelgangers, and we have friends and family who share very similar interests, but there is no carbon copy of YOU. There is no clone.

There is literally only ONE of YOU on this earth.

1. You are God’s creation. Whether you know Him, believe in Him or not, He created you. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27) “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
2. If you know the Lord as your Savior, you are His child. “For ye are all the children of God BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.” (Galatians 3:26)
3. You are unworthy but not worthless. There is a difference! God said you were worthy of being created and even worthy of dying for! “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)Think about this with me: There are no two people on this whole earth that are exactly the same. We know that there are twins and doppelgangers, and we have friends and family who share very similar interests, but there is no carbon copy of YOU. There is no clone. There is literally only ONE of YOU on this earth. Picture God thinking about you in Heaven. Revelation 4:11 says He created every single detail of YOU for HIS pleasure. He said, “I think I’ll create Hannah to love coffee and have a heart to want to encourage and help others. I would love to spend time with Hannah, so I’ll create her.” Do you understand that you are so important and so loved in the eyes of God? YOU are HIS beloved creation. He designed you and made you wonderfully and fearfully, just the way He envisioned would be best, knowing that you may NEVER choose Him. The thought of being able to fellowship with YOU was not only enough for Him to create YOU, but was enough for Him to go to Calvary and die for. Wow. God certainly views YOU as worthy.
4. In His presence, YOU are beautiful. “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

Do you know YOU are beautiful when you spend time with Jesus?

The best thing in this life is Jesus and He is freely yours if you accept Him. Do you know that you are cared about and loved over abundantly?

When you KNOW these things AND believe them with everything inside of you, low self-esteem fades away. Christ equips you with everything you need in this life to be successful with whatever He has given you to do. It is up to your faith to move the mountain of disbelief in yourself.

Nothing is impossible with God. You CAN do all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13). Hold these truths in your heart and hold them close. That old devil will use anything to keep you from doing God’s will, and tormenting you with a low self-esteem is one of them.

Remember who you are (not who the world says you are) and go make the difference that only YOU can make!