Mountain View College

School of Arts and Sciences

General Education Department

Understanding the Self

Worksheet: Reflections 02

Name: _Eric John A. Modillas__________________ Class Schedule: _Tuesday&Thursday 3:00pm-4:30pm__

Today's Devotional Reading is adapted from Rick Thomson's Devotional for Teens.

Self-esteem is a call to admire yourself. It is one of the most damaging concepts propagated in our culture.
This unbiblical teaching blinds many Christians because they believe it is the answer for people with problems,
particularly those who struggle with guilt, shame, fear, or insecurity.
From a biblical perspective, the term low self-esteem has some inherent problems. For example, if low self-esteem
were the problem with an individual, the solution would be to elevate your self-admiration.
Thinking about yourself more would lead to more painful self-consciousness or delusions of grandeur–thinking you
are somebody when in reality, we’re all hopeless, apart from the grace of God (Romans 3:10-12).
One of the deceptions of self-esteem is to spend more time thinking about yourself when thoughts of yourself already
consume you. Jesus came to rescue you from yourself, not to turn you into yourself. Looking inward to elevate your
estimation of yourself will lead you to dizzying disappointment.
The solution to this dilemma is an ever-increasing awareness that you are naked before God and that He must clothe
you in the righteousness of Jesus Christ (John 8:36).

Time to Reflect
How does God’s salvation free you from introspection while releasing you to love Him and others well?
God's salvation opened my eyes to more important things than me. He redirected my eyes to anything noble, right,
pure, lovely, admirable, and anything excellent or praiseworthy. God made me realize how nothing I was in this world
without Him. All I needed was Him and Him alone. And out of my nothingness, God showed me my noble purpose: to
love Him for He first love me, and with His love, I'll share it with His creation and His people.