Be Kind To Yourself

[hldude]

YouTube Channel Video Devo

“Be Kind To Yourself”
Ephesians 2:10 NLT
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.

I have a confession to make right off the bat here. For most of my life, I have had a really bad habit of coming down on myself when I make a mistake or forget to do something. This is something I have been working on for a while, but I still treat myself pretty bad when I mess anything up. The enemy feeds me lies every time I mess up or forget to do something. The enemy tells me I’m worthless, that everyone else would get it right and that I’m just not smart enough.

I’ve dealt with a very low self-esteem for so long, but God is helping me work on this. And, so is my wife and kids. Daily they hear me say something bad about myself and I get in trouble when I do that. If I say, “I’m dumb”, “I’m stupid”, “I can’t get things right”, I get in big trouble with them and they tell me to be nice to myself.

When I read this passage this week, it reminded me that no matter how sometimes I feel about myself, it’s usually very wrong because the enemy wants me to feel worthless, useless and not valued at all.

Friends, think about the first phrase of this passage, “For we are God’s masterpiece”. You and I are God’s MASTERPIECE!!!! How does that make you feel? When I read that, I am reminded how valued and loved I am by God. The enemy is so good at feeding me constant lies about myself. The heartbreak to this behavior of mine is that often I will hear my kids say the same things about themselves. Of course, I tell them to stop saying that, but that’s exactly how I act and what I say when I mess up.

Be kind to yourself! We are a masterpiece created by the Maker of all things. There is nothing useless or worthless about that! If you are reading this and you are finding yourself struggling just like I do daily with self-esteem, remember this passage. You are created anew in Christ Jesus! You are loved and valued by the Maker Himself. He created you and values you more than you’ll ever know.

When you find moments where you come down on yourself and say bad things about yourself, take a deep breath and remember this passage and the fact that God values you. And remember to be kind. We’re always told to be kind to others, but we also need to be kind to ourselves.

 

[Tenchi]

I have a confession to make right off the bat here. For most of my life, I have had a really bad habit of coming down on myself when I make a mistake or forget to do something. This is something I have been working on for a while, but I still treat myself pretty bad when I mess anything up. The enemy feeds me lies every time I mess up or forget to do something. The enemy tells me I’m worthless, that everyone else would get it right and that I’m just not smart enough.

Often, the Enemy exaggerates and twists what's true. Sometimes, what we've done is actually "pretty bad" and a "mess" and ought to be recognized as such. But the Enemy wants us to stay fixed on the mess, on how bad it is, rather than on God's process of recovery from what we've done. No one, though, has ever improved as they've obsessed over their failures, right? And so, the apostle Paul wrote,

Philippians 3:12-15
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let those of us who are mature think this way...

I’ve dealt with a very low self-esteem for so long, but God is helping me work on this. And, so is my wife and kids. Daily they hear me say something bad about myself and I get in trouble when I do that. If I say, “I’m dumb”, “I’m stupid”, “I can’t get things right”, I get in big trouble with them and they tell me to be nice to myself.

Well, being nice to yourself doesn't mean you shouldn't acknowledge the truth about yourself, right? It's only the ignorant person who acknowledges their ignorance who will do anything constructive about it; it's only the foolish person who admits to their foolishness who will do what's needed to cease being foolish; it's only the wicked person who sees that they are wicked who will act to become righteous. No one becomes well-informed, and wise, and holy by fuming about the opposite of these things within themselves, but this fact doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to our weaknesses and failings. If we do ignore what we need to improve within ourselves, improvement will be greatly hindered, or halted altogether.

When I read this passage this week, it reminded me that no matter how sometimes I feel about myself, it’s usually very wrong because the enemy wants me to feel worthless, useless and not valued at all.

And he'd also like you to think you need no change at all.

You know, right after Ephesians 2:10, Paul tells the Gentile believers reading his letter to do the following:

Ephesians 2:11-13
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Why would Paul urge the Ephesian Christians to remember their former godless condition? Won't they feel badly about themselves if they do so? Won't their self-esteem be damaged as they recall that they were separated from Christ, alienated from Israel, and without God in the world?

It seems from what Paul wrote above that it was only by considering their former "distance" from God relationally and spiritually that the Gentile believers could properly understand what had been done for them by Christ who "brought them near" by shedding his blood for them. Doesn't it seem, then, that there is a place for acknowledging the negative things that have been, and maybe still are, true about ourselves? Paul clearly thought so.

Friends, think about the first phrase of this passage, “For we are God’s masterpiece”. You and I are God’s MASTERPIECE!!!! How does that make you feel?

I am made to reflect upon God, not myself, upon His masterful work, not upon myself as His "masterpiece." In-and-of myself, I am nothing. Every good thing I might claim about myself is ultimately made possible by God. And so, the apostle Paul wrote,

1 Corinthians 4:7
7 For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

Be kind to yourself! We are a masterpiece created by the Maker of all things. There is nothing useless or worthless about that! If you are reading this and you are finding yourself struggling just like I do daily with self-esteem, remember this passage. You are created anew in Christ Jesus! You are loved and valued by the Maker Himself. He created you and values you more than you’ll ever know.

Brother, this is worldly advice, not the advice of God to us in His word. I understand that you mean well by writing this sort of thing, that you intend to be kind and encouraging, and I respect this motivation in doing so, but you've urged your siblings in Christ to the opposite of what God calls them to. Please consider the following:

Ephesians 5:29
29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it...

Philippians 2:3
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

1 Peter 5:5-6
5 ...Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

Romans 7:18
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh...

John 12:24-25
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Matthew 16:24
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Apart from God, we are nasty pieces of work, selfish and destructive, and in desperate need of transformation. Just read Ephesians 2:1-3, or Titus 3:3, or Colossians 1:21, or Romans 3:10, 23. We ought to be super careful, then, not to massage our natural tendency to self-interest, to encourage ourselves toward an unbiblical conception of ourselves, to "think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think" (Romans 12:3). Instead, God commands His children to continually, throughout every day, consciously and explicitly submit themselves to the Holy Spirit's control that they might manifest Christ more and more, not themselves.

2 Corinthians 4:7-11
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Romans 8:29
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

No one ever becomes more like Christ by ruminating on their failings, but no one became more like Christ by inflaming their own sense of excellence and worth, either. The "the prize of the upward call of God" is Jesus and him manifested in and through us, not ourselves and our talents, skills and abilities.