Self-esteem vs. Christ-esteem
Some thoughts about the whole cult of self-esteem: the upbuilding of self-esteem, the restoration of self-esteem has become a fixture in our national culture, and even in our national economy. People like Tony Robbins and Norman Vincent Peale make very lucrative livings out of large-scale pep talks to retrain us to love and respect ourselves. I have seen some of them in action, and while I could appreciate the good work that positive speech and positive thinking can accomplish, it struck me that mere positivity is insufficient. Words not based on Truth can be recalled, but they do not live inside our souls like Christ is meant to live in our hearts, they do not sustain. A shot of positivity is merely a temporary pick-me-up. But the indwelling of Christ's Holy Spirit changes our fabric and sustains us.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us.
Because context illuminates, let us add some to this essential kernel. Here is Ephesians 2:1-9 --
1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The pith of the thing is, we were all "dead men walking" around, condemned in sin, descended from and imprinted with the obedience the first parents devised. So the reason that self-esteem cannot sustain us for long, is that it is built on denial of our sin nature. Denial is no sure foundation.
A sure foundation is that "great love wherewith God loved us." After working through the nature of God's love in the previous study topic, we are ready to see love/charity as substantive. And so it is. Mercy is one of the outworkings of God being Love.
Focussing on verses 5-7 above, we can leave behind our lust for self-esteem to gain an appreciation, a Christ-esteem as we see God's mercy in the past (even when we were dead in sins), in the present (we are now raised up to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus), and the future (when we will enjoy forevermore the exceeding riches of his grace).
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit; and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Feed the self with baseless esteem, and you empower the selfish nature, awaken the lusts of the flesh with "I'm good enough," "I deserve it," and so on.
Or, feed your soul the praise of God, the adoration of His Holy Spirit. What does this do for us? When you praise God, His Holy Spirit resonates from within your heart, to the truth in your praises. Esteem the mercy that God shows you always in Christ, and your own heart, mind, soul, and even body thrill in accompaniment.
All About God
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
To stay your mind is drop the mind's anchor in the peace of God. Why should this garner peace? Read on to verse 4, "Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength." In God is everlasting strength, of an everlasting righteous character. Drop anchor into God's strength of character, and peace will prevail, as your esteem for self is brought into proper alignment with God's own opinion of you. You don't need to question God's opinion of you, either: you were worth His own blood.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus is what you got when God, an eternal Creator Spirit, stepped into what He had created, in the guise of what He had created, so that we the creature could learn to know Him better. As the author and finisher (or pioneer and perfecter as the RSV says) of faith, Jesus gives us access to abiding, unconditional joy. I say unconditional joy, meaning a baseline, foundational joy that does not fade in the face of momentary conditions.
Shame is the product of guilt, which is only identifiable in the presence and administration of some sort of law, and law, we know, is what defines sin. All of this unholy progression is what man made with the decision to disobey God in the beginning. To live in shame, or in fear of the shame of being a lawbreaker, keeps one's sights on the law's requirements. It is to live under a heavy yoke of doubt about your performance. But to set your sights on God's mercy as revealed in Jesus, is to live fueled by God's unconditional love.
Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Peter is the most human of the original twelve apostles, to me. He has moods, emotions, impulses, and quirks with which we all identify. For this reason, I always feel a bit defensive of Peter when he is held up as an example for his faults.
Just before Peter focussed on the waves and consequently began to sink, let us admit, he did step out of the boat, in the midst of a storm-tossed lake, no land in sight, on the strength of Jesus' say-so.
The use of this verse, then, is to illustrate the ongoing trial of faith for even the staunchest of believers. There are these times, be they hours, days, or weeks, when we who KNOW God can get distracted by what is confronting us through the eye-gates. God's love and compassion towards us, are unconditional, even at such times. Reading the subsequent verses, Jesus chides Peter, "O ye of little faith - why did you doubt?" Notice, Jesus did not put Peter down as faithless. Peter was not faithless: he did not turn back to the boat and his friends who had remained there trembling. Salvation from the storm, Peter knew, is all about God.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God has never second-guessed or regretted what He chose to do, to rescue mankind. That word 'commendeth' is to 'speak well of.' It is present tense, and from God's peternal point of view, every instant is present tense. God still speaks well of his loving us; His love is not conditioned on how good or bad we are, any more than my love for my children changes when they misbehave. (Being disappointed is not the same thing. Love is not love, if a circumstance or event can affect it.)
Much More Now - "What's Wrong?"
Romans 5:9 Much more then, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
This verse is the pithy center of a triptych of verses, Roman 5:8-10. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Isn't that a wonderful word of encouragement? "[Don't worry: God still approves of the sacrifice he made, out of love for us, and now His own blood makes us just in His sight, so that we are not on the list of those who are going to endure God's wrath. Indeed, if God would die for His enemies, the power of His resurrection is limitless. His life is more lively, than death is deathly.]"
There can be no doubt that God does not keep a tab of our daily wrongs, to balance against the account paid for us at Calvary, in case we should be overbalancing or overdrawing that account. That cannot happen: God's unconditional love has purchased and still maintains an unconditional salvation for those who love and trust Him.
A Works Mentality - Independent of You
Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.
In a former church affiliation, my own spiritual walk for a time grew gradually less radiant, less joyful, under the teaching of a man who styled himself as "a preacher of holiness." He meant that he saw his mission as exhorting us to be holy. What he did was to rail at the congregation about the things we must be doing, as hard as we could, in order to please the Lord. While the man in the pulpit stormed about the sin, the crushing, defining weight of sin that man must wrestle, the mention of Jesus here and there only added to my guilt. I felt so duty-bound to pray more, to study more, be more godly, more obedient - all so that I might please the Lord, who had died for me before I even thought of Him. And I love my Jesus, so I did try to put my head down and press on.
If there had been a corresponding, balancing emphasis on the unconditional love that God has for me, right now as I walk this earth, I would never have needed to leave that congregation. Sadly, there was no such featuring of God's grace. The persistent 'pastoral' theme was something like, "You are so rotten, that God had to give His own blood to pay for your sins, and you ought to be doing all you can to show yourself worthy of it."
All of this overdue emphasis on sin (which is a fact), and bullishness about doing, doing, doing to please God, tended to bow my shoulders and cloud my countenance.
And that is all. so. wrong.
I had very nearly forgotten, that over twenty years ago, I had freely received the Lord Jesus into my heart, that I had given my life to His care and received His life in return. I had forgotten that the yoke of Jesus is easy, that His burden is light. I had forgotten that my works could be counted "good" only if they flowed from my faith. I had lost sight of the truth that, as much as God's grace gives me salvation by faith, so my faith is meant to be walked out in trust, gratitude, and consequent JOY - not in terror that I might displease God by some commission or omission. "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath (God's anger) through [Christ]." Romans 5:9
I had to be reminded...no, to re-learn, to be "fully persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
If you, too, have been grinding out your faith walk locked in a punishing works mentality, the truth that makes you free is found very concisely in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
God's love towards us is unconditional, which means, not an effect of any cause. His love is His character, which is totally independent of anything you do, say, or feel.
As you received Jesus the Lord, and you had to do it absolutely of your own free will, so you are meant to live in Jesus. That means, in liberty. You entered in Jesus freely, and you now can live in him freely.
All Things
Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
The love of God in Christ, which comes to live in and empower us who believe, "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And it never fails" (I Cor. 13:7-8).
The love of God is what inspires our faith - literally inspires it. All things in the believer's life may be delivered to God's care, direction, and credit. The result is a life full of potential, a life that glorifies God. And see, NONE of that comes out of human striving!
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with Him also freely give us all things?
Not only is God's love unconditional, but this is a bonus package deal. With our free acceptance of God's love and forgiveness, comes a benefits package. All things in the way of godly virtues are implanted in us, to be developped as we allow them. All material things necessary for our daily lives, and much that is simply to bless us, God supplies as we trust Him.
A Standstill - "What kind of a Father are You?"
James 1:13 & 17 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
(The heading on this section relates to a specific experience that Andrew Wommack, author of this Bible study guide, had with a man whose young daughter was a paraplegic in a wheelchair. The father took a scripturally unsupportable view that God had handed this circumstance out, so that He might be glorified in it. What follows, is my own treatment of the problem of pain, as C.S. Lewis puts it, and suffering, and what they have to do with God.)
There is no question about it - the greatest obstacle to trusting God is the (perceived!) discrepancy between suffering and the declared loving character of Almighty God. If you are an unbeliever and have read thus far, I shall do my best to fill in the whole picture. If you are a believer who has been challened by the question, "If God loves me so much, why do I suffer?" then this may equip you, as well.
When I was small enough to be punished for wrongs by my parents, I took the consequences for misbehavior. I never imagined they did not love me, just because I was scolded or spanked. Looking back from adulthood, I know that, had there been no effort to shape me into a well-behaved person, that would have been proof that I was actually hated, or not valued. You spend the effort on what matters to you.
There is both a similarity and a difference in the parenting of our heavenly Father. The similarity is, whatever we do wrong, does not alter the intensity of His love for us. That love is unconditional.
The difference is that our sufferings, rather than being doled out as punishments by a tyrannical God, are results of either our own conduct through the exercise of our free will, or of the conduct of others, through their exercise of free will.
How about this: if we are brave and honest enough to trace our problem back to ourselves, would it really be to our benefit never to reap what we sow? How would we have opportunity to improve, without a cause of repentance? If a controlling, earthly parent or your heavenly Father always interfered to save you from these learning experiences, would you be blessed...or crippled?
For the other side of suffering, the rotten things that are completely on someone else's tab: this too, is a (much, much tougher) chance to understand what mercy is. I do not mean, 'Look, you get to show mercy and forgive that drunk driver/rapist/thief/adulterer/murderer, so rejoice!' (although that is recommended - see Matthew 6:14-15 and John 20:23). What I mean is that if God's mercy to you and me means not blasting us with lightning when we sin, we have to allow God's mercy to be the same towards those who cause us to suffer. In our heart of hearts, we would crave consistency in God's character. In reality, faced with everyday living, we sometimes resent His consistency, when it becomes inconvenient to our sense of self-centered justice, and our fleshly lust for vengeance.
In a way, and from a detached and purely logical standpoint, I can understand the unbeliever blaming God for suffering. That is at least an honest decision, in that it agrees with a preconceived notion that God is not loving or just or merciful. But if the believer blames God for suffering, this is doubly dangerous ground. Just as I could count on being smacked if I should dare to yell an accusation at my parents, I ought to expect a smack from God for that. But He will not do that. And I will create a rift in my intimacy with Him, for as long as I grudge Him the right to extend to others the same mercy He has extended to me.
It takes supernatural strength, to count it all joy when we fall into various trials, and to remember that the trying (literally, 'the smelting') of our faith works patience (James 1:2-3). Then again, that is why such a direction is given to believers rather than unbelievers. The believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 6:19), and able to draw on Christ's power for all things (Philippians 4:13).
To be patient in suffering, to endure hard things as a good soldier in such a way that it is not the heart but the resolve that is hardened, is a challenge for us (II Timothy 2:3), a trust given to us (Acts 5:41), and insofar as it is achieved, the hope of reward in heaven when all scores are settled (Matthew 5:10-12). The unconditional love of God is what inspires, motivates, and sustains us, as we travel this sod.
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