As a parent, one of the most important things you can instill in your kids is a high sense of self-worth. We have to teach our kids to love themselves so that they can love others.
Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39 NKJV).
Well, what if I don’t love “me” very much? How can I love others? What if I believe that I’m stupid, or a doofus, or insignificant, or dumb, or ugly, or any other lie the devil tells me? The Bible says in Proverbs that as a man thinks in his heart so is he (Proverbs 23:7). The bottom line is you don’t have to believe the devil’s lies. You can believe what God says about you. And He has a lot of good things to say.
Joshua had some pretty big shoes to fill when Moses died and he was appointed to be the leader of Israel. Even though he’d been Moses’ right-hand man for years, he felt pretty inadequate to be Moses’ successor. God told Joshua, “If you’ll meditate in My Word day and night, you’ll have good success and prosper” (Joshua 1:8, paraphrased). Joshua had to start seeing himself the way God did in order to be the leader God intended for him to be.
We have to teach our kids that their self-worth doesn’t come from natural things, like their GPA, or SAT scores, or how much money they have, or how popular they are. Those things are all subject to change, but God’s Word is truth and it never changes. Our kids’ sense of self-worth has to come from God.
The Take Away
Parents, teach your kids what the Word of God says about them. Begin with having them read Joshua 1:1-9 and Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Search out other scriptures as well. Have them confess these scriptures routinely.
