Self esteem has never been more encouraged than it is today. Most of us would say that self esteem is a good thing.
However, Jennie Allen says that while this message is good, it can also be taken too far.
“I believe the self esteem movement feels good initially, and it certainly is present all over Instagram. There’s these messages of you are enough and you have everything you need in yourself.”
“The truth is we don’t. Scripture is so clear about that, Romans 3:23 says, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We did not measure up, we did not hit the mark.”
We think that having more self esteem will give us freedom, but it’s backwards.
“We put self esteem on like dress-up clothes. We know we snapped at our kids this morning, we know that we have made big mistakes and disappointed people and ourselves, and so when we slap the word awesome on ourselves, we know it doesn’t fit. We know we don’t measure up.”
Does that mean God wants us to live in insecurity? Absolutely not!
“He wants our security to come from Him and His identity for us, rather than in our own strength and our own awesomeness. He makes us have value and worth and gives us such value and worth because we’re children of God, co-heirs of Jesus Christ. It’s a huge, awesome value, His righteousness on us and our lives.”
The door to freedom is admitting our own weakness and not trying to hide it from the world.
“It’s so difficult, we want to avoid it and we want to get to the freedom without going through that door.”
Jennie shares how this struggle hit home for her.
“What had happened inadvertently was that the things of God had gotten so important to me that God Himself faded to the background. I didn’t realize it was happening because God’s name was on everything I was doing in my life, but it had stolen my first love.”
Thankfully, God redirected Jennie and helped her see that she had lost her first love.
Jennie Allen is an author and the founder of If:Gathering, an innovative forum for women. Jennie lives with her husband Zac and their four children in Austin, Texas. She is the author of .
Key Scripture: John 7:37-38
Featured Songs: Edge of Heaven – River Valley; Rescue Has Come – Lincoln Brewster; Same Power – Jeremy Power
Nothing to prove
