HOW TO OVERCOME A LOW SELF- ESTEEM/THE CURE

We cannot talk about the solution to a low self esteem without recognizing who and what man was made to be. In as much as it may sound religious to the uninitiated, man was made in the image of God, and was created to do things like him. There are two major things, that destroy a man’s self esteem, and they are 1. A lacking , of the knowledge of God, and an ignorance of the indefatigable, and indestructible life that he gives. 2. So many who have received the life of God do not know how to use it, and have never been taught who they are up to such a point that it swallows up their thinking.
The message of condemnation, that lays emphasis on our weaknesses, our failures, our foolishness, our inabilities, our not being qualified, must be replaced by the authentic message of the gospel of Jesus Christ which says that he came so that we may have life , and have it more abundantly. We need to hear that because of what he has done, we are the saved, the healed, the delivered, and the set free. We need to hear such scriptures as, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich”.2 Corinthians, chapter 8 verse 9. In other words, if you are in Christ Jesus, you don’t need to measure your wealth, or riches by what you have in your pocket, because, you are already rich, you have been given the “unsearchable riches of Christ” Epesians, 3:8. Jesus himself said “A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of what he possesses”. Luke chapter12, verse 15.This is very important, and it means, that you should never allow your self esteem, to be determined, by what you posses.
You have to believe in yourself. This is so very important, because you cannot get others to believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself. The psalmist understood the beauty of God’s creation, and especially of the one that was made in God’s image, so he wrote in Psalm 139, verse 14, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knows very well,” Accept the way God has made you. If you think that you are black and therefore disadvantaged, remember that many black people have succeeded in every sphere of life and that today a black man-Barack Obama is the President of the most powerful nation on earth: The United States of America. I like the title of Pastor Victoria Osteen’s book, - Love your life- and although I am yet to have access to the book or read it, I totally recommend it to anyone that is reading this article because I have listened to Pastor Joel Osteen many times and all those who are confused about their true identity and have not received the love that God has for them, should listen, so that their struggles with a low self esteem will be over. If you think that you are not as talented as someone else is, you need to look inwards so that you can locate the areas of your life where God has blessed you because the Bible tells us that God through His Holy Spirit gave gifts to all men. Even if you think that what you have is not good enough, the Bible tells us that we can covet or desire and ask for something better from God. There is always room for improvement. This is better than sitting down and having a pity party.
Learn to dream big: The bigger your self esteem, the bigger you can dream, and the converse is true-the bigger your dream, the bigger your self -esteem. Many times when people catch a big dream, their circle of friends change, their poor mode of dressing, the places they used to go to, and so many other things will automatically change so as to make them suitable for the new job, the new vision, the work of the ministry, the acquisition of another degree or the creation of the new company, or even the conquering of a bad habit.
Love: The great woman of God-Kathryn Khulman- described love as- the Greatest power in the World- and I think that she has a book that goes by the same title. There are two important sides as to how that love can contribute to restoring the self-esteem of someone who has a low self-esteem, 1.By receiving love. 2. by giving love. The society and the church must learn to show love to the downtrodden, the poor, the orphans, the helpless and the needy. Those who because of their lifestyles have come short of the standards of the church should also be shown the mercy and the love that God has given to all of us. It helps to heal them. Last year, a dear man of God in Nigeria, wanted to celebrate his birthday, so he gathered together many poor lame hurting widowed sick and suffering people, and gave value to their lives by giving those gifts including food, monetary gifts, and wheelchairs for the crippled like it had never been done before. I learnt so much from that. Those who have a low self esteem should try to reach out to others and show them love because people respond to love and you reap what you sow.
Ensure that you surround yourself, with people who appreciate you and who speak well of you, positively and who believe that you can achieve your purpose. Detractors and destiny destroyers need to be kept at arm’s length.
Finally, leave the bad past behind, where it belongs. If you suffered from physical, verbal or sexual abuse as a child, you need to relieve it or dig it up, discuss with the one responsible if need be (it is always not necessary) talk about it, forgive and stress to your self the fact that you are better and bigger that and forget it.Try to maintain that ability to bounce back after an obstacle or a fall.