OVERCOMING A LOW SELF-IMAGE – PART 1

Many of us have two faces or images:

1 -- The image we try to present to others.

2 -- A secret image or private picture of ourselves.

Let me give you an idea of what I’m talking about; you go to church or gathering and the people who see you see the exterior you, the one that has it together, that smiles all the time and appears to be doing great. But inwardly you might be thinking something like: [I’m stupid, I’m ugly, I am not a good father or mother, I’m too fat, no one loves me, I wish I were different, I’m not a good believer, YHVH couldn’t want anything to do with me.] And the truth of the matter is that deep down inside you despise yourself or at least some parts of yourself. When you feel that way about yourself it has a dramatic effect on your life and the lives of the people who are closest to you. Let us help each other to overcome a low self-image by getting some instruction from YHVH’s Word.

The Danger of Distorted Mirrors:

I’m holding a mirror in my hand and when I look in it I see certain things. What I see is dependent upon what preconceived notions I have about what is or is not of worth. The problem I’ve found is that people might have a unrealistic view of what they look like, how smart or how successful they are, but they have a distorted view of the value of those things. In other words, most people have the wrong perception of what is and what is not of value, leading them to devalue themselves because they do not meet the faulty expectations, they have for themselves. Let’s consider some of the false mirror perceptions that many of us hold.

1 -- The Appearance Mirror – My value depends on how I look:
If you haven’t noticed yet, extreme makeovers are in. In fact, there is TV shows that details drastic cosmetic surgeries that people are undertaking to change their appearance. Of the 6.6 million cosmetic-plastic-surgery patients in 2002, nearly a third had multiple procedures at the same time. Total makeovers include cosmetic dentists, injections and other cosmetic enhancements. The average cost in 2002 run up to 20,000 pounds. Now in 2022, it is way more! If you have ever watched interviews with any of these people who have had the surgeries, they will always talk about what a boost it gave to their self-image. There’s only one problem; it doesn’t last, because they are basing their self-worth on a false perception of what is valuable. The fact of the matter is, everyone is not beautiful, and everyone doesn’t have a perfect body. The good news is that this should not and does not determine our worth.

2 -- The Performance Mirror – My value depends on what I can do.:
Worship teams do a great job of singing and our instrumentalists do a great job of playing their instruments. Guess what? I can’t sing that great and I certainly can’t play an instrument. But that doesn’t bother me in the slightest, because my self-image and self-perception isn’t built on what I cannot do. Too many of us allow our self-image to be determined by what grades we get, what our level of education is, how much money we make or how far we have moved up the corporate ladder. But there is great danger in that because there is always someone who is smarter than us, makes more money than us and who is more accomplished than us. It’s a lose-lose situation and it will destroy you if you fall prey to it.

3. The Status Mirror – My value depends on what others think of me:
When a person speaks negatively about himself and puts himself down it is usually because he is feeling incompetent, unimportant or unloved. And usually, they feel that way because someone has told them that. It might be their parents, their spouse or their peers, but someone has told them that they were ugly, fat, or stupid and that memory has become imbedded deep within their psyche. Of course, there are times where no one told them these kinds of things, but something has happened in their lives to make them think that way. Now if you’re looking through this distorted mirror of status, your self-image will be determined by whose company you’re in at any given moment. If you think the person approves of you, you’ll feel good about yourself, but if you think they disapprove your self-image will go out the window.

FACT: Until we see ourselves as YHVH sees us, we are destined to feel inferior. When we base our self-image on how we look, how we perform or on what others think of us, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Because we are basing our self-worth upon a false system of measurement. It’s like measuring your height with a scale or measuring your weight with a ruler. You cannot possibly have a good self-image until you use the right standard of measurement, and the right standard of measurement is how YHVH sees us.

Three Keys to Biblical Self-Image:

I promise you that if you’ll take these four keys and apply them to your life, over time you will be completely victorious over this self-image problem.

Key 1 -- Understand YHVH’s view of you:
What does YHVH think of you? Have you ever wondered about that? Not, what does my boss, husband, wife, kids, fellow church members or friends, think about me, but what does YHVH think about me?

A -- YHVH made you in His Image: [YHVH created people in His Own Image; YHVH patterned them after Himself; male and female He created them.] -- Genesis 1:27. If you are made in YHVH’s image, yet you have a bad self-image, you also have a bad image of YHVH. Now I’m not trying to make things worse for you, but it is my contention and experience that those who don’t view themselves in the right light also have a tremendous struggle with relating to YHVH. Because when your view of yourself is in conflict with what YHVH says about you, your view of YHVH is also in conflict and until you begin to see yourself in the right light you will be unable to relate to YHVH in the right way. When YHVH made you in His image He was creating a person with intelligence, a spiritual nature, with abilities, talents and personality. And while we are not YHVH, we are made with many of the same characteristics and personality traits as YHVH Himself.

B -- YHVH Loves you for who you really are: [People judge by outward appearance, but Adonai looks at a person's thoughts and intentions.] -- 1 Samuel 16:7. Do you think YHVH really cares whether you are pretty or not? Do you think that somehow your worth in His sight is determined by external appearance? Nothing could be further from the truth; while others might make judgments based upon your height, weight, looks or other externals, YHVH is focusing intently upon what is taking place inside your heart.

C -- YHVH has taken up residence in you: [Don't you know that your body is the temple of Ruach HaKodesh, who lives in you and was given to you by YHVH? You do not belong to yourself, for YHVH bought you with a high price. So, you must honour YHVH with your body.] -- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. YHVH literally lives in you if you have placed your trust in Yeshua Moshiach. This isn’t some symbolic thing that’s taking place, if someone were to ask YHVH for His address He would give them your name. YHVH doesn’t choose junk to take up residence in.

D -- YHVH has made you His masterpiece: [For we are YHVH's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Moshiach Yeshua, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago]. -- Ephesians 2:10. Think of yourself as a used canvas: YHVH, the Master-Artist, took some divine paint remover and through Yeshua Moshiach has wiped the surface clean. He removed every sin, every bad experience, everything that made you feel impure and ugly inside. And then He began repainting your life with the brushes of sacrifice, love, commitment, and adoption His family. He now puts you on display, sits back to look at you with the eyes of the most accomplished artist and He says, “You are my masterpiece.” That’s who you are in YHVH’s eyes, you are YHVH’s masterpiece. That’s Key 1, to understand YHVH’s view of you.