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The Overcoming Christian Life
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
The Christian life is an overcoming life. Even though we will definitely have problems and personal struggles in this life, we will be able to overcome because of Jesus. Because of Him, we have victory over the world, including sinful habits, bitterness, loneliness, guilt, fear, and discouragement.Dear reader, God wants you to live an overcoming life! Please read the followinglesson with faith, not in yourself, but in God.
Lesson 6 – Overcoming low self-esteem
8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus …
Introduction
Everyone has feelings of inferiority, condemnation, and hopelessness from time totime. Many people cannot fully enjoy life because they feel inferior and guilty. This burden causes depression, discouragement, and fear. Christians should not feel inferior or condemned because God redeemed them from sin and its effects by the sacrifice of His precious Son, Jesus Christ.
What causes low self-esteem?
We are all sinners. It is natural for us to feel guilty. However, there are severalfactors that especially cause feelings of condemnation and inferiority.
1. Accusations of Satan
The Bible says that Satan constantly accuses God’s people. Even the name Satanmeans “accuser” in the Hebrew language. When Satan accuses us, we feel a generalcondemnation that leads to hopelessness, since there is nothing we can do about it. This isdifferent than the conviction of sin that comes by the Holy Spirit, which targets specificsin and leads us to repentance.
Revelation 12:10
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,has been hurled down.”
2. Unrealistic stereotypes
Society puts pressure on people to conform to stereotypes, and we may feelsomething is wrong with us if we don’t match those stereotypes. If we accept thosestereotypes, we will compare ourselves unfavorably with others who match thosestereotypes better.
3. Harsh words
Many people look down on themselves because of something said to them in the past. Perhaps their parents, relatives, classmates, friends, or teachers said something thatmade a lasting impression. They may carry those words around as though they were branded on their forehead.
4. Wrong perspective of God
Some people come from a home where there is little praise for success, but lots of punishment for failure. If we come from these types of environments, it is easy to have awrong perception of God. We may see Him as a cruel master who demands perfectionand is ready to punish us when we fall short of His standard.
5. Past failure
Our past experiences of failure may make us feel inferior. If we sinned terribly,that sin may haunt us. Whenever we have an opportunity to succeed or be happy, we mayremember our past and feel that we are unworthy or doomed to fail.
How to overcome low self-esteem
1. Resist Satan’s lies
Ever since the Garden of Eden, Satan has used lies to destroy people and drivethem further away from God. Satan will accuse us and do everything he can to steal our joy and make us feel defeated. But we need to remember what Jesus said about Satan inJohn 8:44.
John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. Hewas a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
We need to recognize the lies and accusations of Satan. Whenever we feelcondemned in a general sense and as though there is nothing we can do, that is theaccusation of Satan. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, He will always direct ustoward a solution or specific action that we can take. Conviction from Holy Spirit isspecific and guides us to the right actions, but accusation from Satan is general and leadsus to further defeat.
2. Stand firm on God’s promises
When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for all our sins. We do not need to pay for our own sins because His sacrifice was once for all. We simply need to repent and believe.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 10:10
We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
He extends this forgiveness to us by grace—not by our own merit. It is a free giftthat we cannot earn, but simply receive by faith when we repent.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it isthe gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
We need to remember these truths. It doesn’t matter what we feel because wearen’t saved by our emotions. We are cleansed from sin by God’s actions.
Romans 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, becausethrough Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
3. See ourselves as valuable in the church
The Bible says that all Christians are valuable to God. God has prepared a role for each one of us to play in His church. We are like parts of the body that function together in different ways.
Romans 12:3-8
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to thebody," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were aneye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet,"I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker areindispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the
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