OVERCOMING A LOW SELF-IMAGE – PART 2

Key 2 – Believe YHVH’s View is True:

How would you respond if I asked you this question: [Do you honestly believe that YHVH likes you, not just loves you because theologically YHVH has to love you?] If you can with all honesty answer: [Yes, I know that YHVH both likes me and loves me, you are well on your way to healing your self-image.] The problem is that you can hear a message like this and start feeling better about yourself, but tomorrow morning there will be that temptation to go back to where you were before. [For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you keep looking steadily into YHVH's perfect Law, the Law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then YHVH will bless you for doing it.] -- James 1:23-25. Now this passage has a little different context than what we’re looking at, but the principle still applies. We need to not only understand what YHVH is saying to us, we need to believe that what He is saying about us is true and act upon it. What it really comes down to is a matter of faith; am I going to believe what YHVH says about me or what others say about me? Am I going to base my self-image on what YHVH has revealed or on what I’ve come to believe about myself by using a false system of measurement? The two things that will give you the ability to have the faith necessary is time spent with YHVH in prayer; ask Him to reveal how He feels about you and time in His Word reading the actual revelation He has given.

Key 3 – Discover The Real You:

If you have been living under the illusion that you are unloved, unwanted and not a valued contributor to this world and to your church, it is going to take time to overcome that. You need to spend some personal time with YHVH and others in discovery mode. Let me give you a few practical ways to begin that process.

A -- Give others what you need: Let’s look at a passage that is often wrongly connected with money. [If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving, large or small, it will be used to measure what is given back to you.] -- Luke 6:38. In this context Yeshua is talking about forgiveness and really any other positive thing that you can grant to other people. Why not spend your time encouraging others in the areas of their giftedness and self-image and trying to lift them up to a new level. If you seriously do this you will find that your own self-image will begin to grow, and you will be encouraged in a way you’ve never experienced before.

B -- Use your YHVH-given gifts and talents: There are certain things that you can do better than anyone else. Everyone is a [10] in some area and you probably already know what area that is. [YHVH has given each of us the ability to do certain things well]. -- Romans 12:6a. He goes on in this passage to list various gifts such as prophesy, serving others, teaching, encouragement, generosity, leadership and showing kindness. Now, this is not an exhaustive list, so if you didn’t hear your gift, don’t be discouraged. The point is this, you will discover your true self-image when you begin to use the gifts that YHVH has given to you, because only then are you fully living out who YHVH has created you to be.

Over A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Café, Leonard Sweet tells the story of the making of a film by two Londoners. In 1971 they began to film street people. The film captured the daily rituals of the homeless, their trials and joys. Some were drunk, others mentally disturbed; some were articulate and others unintelligible. One of England's leading composers, Gavin Bryars, agreed to help with the audio aspects of the film. During his work, he became aware of a constant undercurrent of sound that appeared whenever one certain homeless man was filmed. At first, the sound seemed like muttered gibberish. But after removing the background noise, Bryars discovered the old man was singing. Bryars learned that this beggar didn’t drink or socialize with others. The old man was alone, filthy, homeless, but he also had a sunny demeanour. What distinguished him from the others was his quiet singing. He would for hours sing the same thing over and over. The man's weak voice was untrained, but it never wavered from pitch. He repeated the simple phrases of the song over and over. One day at the office the composer looped together the first 13 bars of the homeless man's song, preparing to add orchestration to the piece. He left the loop running while he went downstairs for a cup of coffee. When he returned, he found his fellow workers listening in subdued silence and a few were even weeping. The old man's quiet, trembling voice had leaked from the recording room and transformed the office floor. Here is what he sang, the words to an old hymn:

Yeshua' blood never failed me yet
never failed me yet
Yeshua' blood never failed me yet
there’s one thing I know
for he loves me so.

Most people would look at an old homeless man like this and wonder how he could possibly have a good self-image. But he had come to the place where old images are shattered, and new images are created. He had come to the Cross, to Yeshua’ Blood and discovered that YHVH has proved that he was worth much in His eyes, by sending His Son to die on the cross for his sins. While everything external cried out [loser,] the Cross proved that he was a winner in YHVH’s eyes. You see, he did what we all need to do; come to the living waters of YHVH’s Grace and be made whole. Have you made a trip there yet? Have you been to the living waters of YHVH? Have you been made right with YHVH so that you could live your life in the assurance that He offers?