If we don’t know our worth, we will spend our lives trying to prove we are “good enough.”
What is Self-Worth?
Self-worth is defined in the dictionary as: “the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person.”
Our value and worth comes from the fact that God created us and paid a high price for us.
God saw every wrong thing we would ever do or say and still said, “You are worth My Son, to Me.”
To have a strong sense self-worth we have to know our value.
WHAT THE WORD SAYS:
–God loves us and paid a high price for us.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NLT)
–We are to love our neighbor, but we can’t give what we haven’t received. If we don’t know we are loved that means our neighbor is in trouble.
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT)
-We are “accepted” and we belong.
To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:6 (NKJ)
YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS…
- God loves you. (John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5)
- He created you. (Ephesians 2:10, Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13)
- He gave you gifts and talents. (Romans 12:6, 1 Peter 4:10, Proverbs 18:16)
- He will never leave you. ( Deuteronomy 7:9, 31:8, Isaiah 41:17)
THE DANGERS OF LOW SELF-WORTH
1. Creates chameleons
Chameleons will change themselves for whoever they’re around.
2. Makes people wishy-washy
Wishy-washy people can’t make decisions because they are afraid of making a mistake. To avoid making a wrong decision, they make no decisions.
3. Invites self-rejection
People with low self-worth are down on themselves all the time. They will “reject” themselves before other people can reject them. They won’t volunteer, they won’t participate and ultimately they miss out on living God’s full plan for their lives.
4. Cripples emotions
Low self-worth makes people focus on themselves alone. Because they don’t believe or know that they are “accepted in the beloved” they constantly need to be reassured. This is the opposite of what God has for us.
5. Squanders Potential
When people feel like they aren’t worth anything they won’t try for anything. They will be happy to be mediocre because they don’t feel like they deserve anything.
6. Creates Moral Pushovers
Moral pushovers are people who don’t know who they are and so they are seeking acceptance from others.
TRUE SELF-WORTH
True self-worth comes from knowing that God loves you just as you are; that as a child of God you are accepted and belong to Him. When you are secure in that fact you don’t have to prove anything and you can focus on something other than yourself.
When you have a strong sense of self-worth you willattempt things others won’t and you willachieve things other won’t because you aren’tworried about proving yourself. You will stand strong even in the face of opposition because you know you have value.
TAKING ACTION
People believe most what they hear the most.
We need to tell ourselves and our children what God says about us and who we are in Christ.
For Yourself:
– Remind yourself of what God has done for you (make a list and start writing it down) and what He says about you in His Word. (Start looking up scriptures that tell you who you are “in Him, in Whom, in Christ, through Jesus,” and that will get you on the right track!
For Your Child:
– Everyone needs affirmation and our children are no different. God spoke over His Son (See Matt. 3:17) and we need to speak over our children daily. Even if they make the same mistakes, tell them who they are in Christ. Speak words of life. Don’t just remind them of their mistakes.
