Confidence and Esteem
Feeling confident in your body, job, skills, or even the car you drive is a great feeling. For most people, including myself, it can be quite difficult to feel confident when things aren’t how I want them. God taught us that we are created in his image and that we are to rely on him. If we rely solely on ourselves, our confidence will waver every time.
Self-esteem is defined as confidence in one’s own worth or abilities, but I feel as a christian self-esteem is having confidence that I am who God says I am. We should feel a strong sense of comfort by simply being a child of God. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalm 139:13-14. Often when things feel wrong and I start to feel hopeless, I know that I can rely on the fact that God created me on purpose just the way I am. We shouldn’t stress much about our own weaknesses. We don’t have to be the best looking, the smartest or the most successful. We’re called to give our best and to trust the Lord to work all things out in our favor. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” Jeremiah 17:7
It’s hard to see the bigger picture when we’re clouded by our everyday stress or by anger. But we were made for a specific purpose before we were even born. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 For me it’s almost impossible to be negative or to hate on myself when I know that I was chosen by God. “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” Ephesians 1:4
God loves to do big things with ordinary people. If you feel unimportant and useless know that God will equip you with the skills you need to fulfill your purpose. Isaiah 40:31 “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”