Knowing Jesus Impacts Me

Knowing Jesus Impacts Me

August 3, 2002

How do you feel about yourself? Truth is that most of us don’t feel all that good about ourselves- our self image and self confidence are not at raging highs, but are more at lows, and have been for years- likely since we were children.

What are some of the ways we can think of that tell us how we feel about ourselves? When someone compliments you on a job well done, is your first reaction to discount that compliment- to say, ‘it was nothing’, or, maybe if it’s something you’ve cooked that is being complimented to immediately talk about how it didn’t turn out quite the way you wanted or that the recipe said. These show that you don’t think of yourself with confidence. Some of us hide behind being too quiet or too loud- these indicate lower than desired self image. Some hide behind being to heavy or too light- both extremes are ways that we react to a low self image or low self confidence. Do you seriously wish you were taller? Shorter? Bigger? Smaller? Do you actually feel, and admit it, that you’re not much of a person and not really worthy of anything? Has life beaten you down to the point that you don’t feel you really have anything to offer anyone? Do you feel ‘good for nothing’? Do you feel like you ‘can’t do anything right’? Do you feel like you’re ‘never going to amount to much’ or that you ‘haven’t amounted to much’? Do these feelings dominate your thinking patterns? Do you have to make sure everyone knows all that you’re doing and how busy you are and what important people you see? These are common ways for 21st century people to cover feelings to inferiority and not feeling good about themselves.

It has taken all of us a lot of work to get to where we are today. We’ve had to weather the teen years, and they have always been difficult years- they are now and they were ‘back then’, too. Those of you in the teen years right now might find it hard to imagine, but it’s true. Teens focus on their height and being too tall or too short, and on being too thin or too fat. They focus on their hair and it’s never quite right. Then there are those pimples that mar the surface of what could be a perfect face, but now can never be. Girls worry about their breast size, and guys worry about the size of their chest and how they’re shaped, as well as the size of other body parts. Girls worry about their beauty and some become adults thinking they’re not beautiful Guys worry about whether they’re attractive to girls and some become adults feeling that they’re not at all attractive. All of us, who are past teenage, have been there, and have been impacted by these worries and anxieties, and by the verbal barbs we might have received for the way we were at some stage.

Unfortunately, in some cases- far too many- words of parents stick with you. Some of them were so critical that you can’t help but carry them with you, it seems. Some parents don’t know how to lift up and build up and because of their own insecurities, they pass on inferiority and low self-esteem, so some of us are dealing with a generational issue. Some have been abused, in childhood, and that really messes with minds and feelings- whether mental, emotional, or physical abuse- doesn’t matter- someone bigger has taken advantage of someone smaller, and that makes that person feel smaller forever, it seems, and that is not right. Some adults are too quiet because parents made them believe they never had anything worthwhile to say and always criticized what they said.

The result of all this is that some of us have a very damaged and broken self-image, with those strong feelings of being good for nothing and not being able to do anything right and of not amounting to much.

So, how can we do anything differently and be anything differently?

One relationship can make a big difference, and this is a relationship we need to understand and build with great energy, because of the liberation that it can bring to us. Knowing Jesus can help you in your relationship with YOURSELF! Knowing Jesus can be the greatest help you can have from anywhere to how you feel about yourself. There is every reason to draw truth from the source of truth- the Word of God- in order to handle some of these feelings that really hold us back in our lives- and which prevent our being all we can be now, as well as into the future.