Who am I, is a question that we constantly struggle with. How do we learn to see ourselves as God does, and therefore, learn to value our lives because of God’s purpose for us. The principle of sin that is present in this world, often tempts us to view ourselves as the world views us, but the reality is that we need to evaluate ourselves based on God’s standards not our own. We have already seen that because of the worlds definition of important we often view ourselves inaccurately. We now are reminded that because of those same standards, we often struggle with the things that may be true about ourselves that are not sinful. For example, my height was a constant thorn in my side as a high school student. I wanted to be over 6 foot tall (a mark I will add that I have never reached!), but it never happened. I let this shortfall define my value and my view of myself. I could not change that truth, but as a result I became a “lover of self … rather than a lover of God.” (2 Timothy 3:1-7) These accurate self-perceptions, really did not define my value … READ MORE

We live in a world that has developed into a lovers of themselves, over lovers of God. We began by evaluating how we are to review the accuracy of our perceptions, and to build a view of ourselves based on the clear teaching of the Word of God. We must then change our perception of ourselves in light of that revelation. We continue by exploring second category of inferiority judgments which has to do with a conscience or value system that has not bee biblically programmed. Sometimes people judge themselves to be inadequate in a particular area in which the Bible does not require them to be superior. As a young boy entering my junior year of high school, I was a 4’8″ student who wanted to be the star center of our high school basketball team. Unfortunately, my desire and the coaches assessment did not match. It was not a sin for me to be “short, and unathletic, yet I judged myself to be deficient. My judgment of my person value was based upon a “flaw” that was not my fault, nor was it a true definition of who I was. My problem was that I was overvaluing size … READ MORE

One of the hardest things we do is change our perspective about ourselves. We looked at 4 things we can do to assist in that process yesterday, and I would like to conclude with three more today: 1. Avoid making unbiblical prophecies about our future (Phil. 4:6). Inaccurate perceptions are often made worse by the sin of worry. Worry is fear in the absence of actual danger. he tend to overestimate the possibility of danger and magnify the degree of potential adversity. This is often accompanied by imaginary pessimistic and foreboding outcomes that have been distorted beyond all likelihood in our minds. Don’t allow your mind to minimize the available power of God, to see us through the circumstances of our lives. We want to be in control, but we must allow God to shepherd us through the dark valleys (Ps. 23:4) 2. Practice bringing every thought into captivity by writing out accurate perceptions based on Scriptural evidences (2 Cor. 10:3-5). In other words, take the inaccurate perception(s) and to the Word of God and see what God says about those perceptions, and then meditation on those verses to help reinforce your new understanding. 3. Learn to speak the truth … READ MORE