Post by George on Jan 9, 2006 1:20:35 GMT -5
My dear brothers and sisters,
I wanted to share something with you that has really been on my mind lately. I mentioned in another thread that God scourged me Sunday evening. One of the things He literally beat out of me was self-esteem.
I wrote this some time back. It is a good study so I asked Preacher Ben to see if I had posted it to the boards previously. It has not been moved from elsewhere so it apparently did not get posted here.
Therefore, here is the study on self-esteem. I sincerely hope and pray you can and do use it in your daily lives and your relationship with God.
_______________________________________________
Self Esteem
It is very common in the world today to attribute a lot of the problems people have in their lives to a state of low self-esteem. When I think of the term, “self-esteem,” I immediately think of vanity and conceit. Self-esteem is a term that is widely used by society and particularly the modern psychologist and psychiatrist crowd. It is extremely common among post-modernists and secular humanists.
I believe that attempting to increase self-esteem is something that we cannot and should not do. It is similar to chasing the wind. How can we successfully chase and catch something that has no basis? How can we possibly esteem ourselves in any way? I sincerely believe the Bible says the best self-esteem to have is NO self-esteem. I will attempt to expose that statement using the Bible.
Let us first take a look at the word, “conceit,” as found in the Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.
CONCEIT, n. [L., to take or seize.]
1. Conception; that which is conceived, imagined, or formed in the mind; idea; thought; image.
In laughing there ever precedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous, and therefore it is proper to man.
2. Understanding; power or faculty of conceiving; apprehension; as a man of quick conceit. [Nearly antiquated.] How often did her eyes say to me, that they loved! Yet I, not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them.
3. Opinion; notion; fancy; imagination; fantastic notion; as a strange or odd conceit.
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 26.
4. Pleasant fancy; gayety of imagination.
On the way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit.
5. A striking thought; affected or unnatural conception.
Some to conceit alone their works confine.
6. Favorable or self-flattering opinion; a lofty or vain conception of ones own person or accomplishments.
By a little study and a great conceit of himself, he has lost his religion.
Notice first and foremost there is no mention of God in any of that definition. It is all of self. Pay particular attention to #6 in the list, which I believe to be the equivalent of self-esteem. Self-flattering and vain conception are two of the phrases used in that one meaning of the word, “conceit.” It is all about self and not of God in any way.
Let us also take a look at the definition of the word, “vanity,” from that same dictionary.
VAN'ITY, n. [L. vanitas, from vanus, vain.]
1. Emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity.
Vanity of vanities, said the preacher; all is vanity. Eccles. 1.
2. Fruitless desire or endeavor.
Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come.
3. Trifling labor that produces no good.
4. Emptiness; untruth
Here I may well show the vanity of what is reported in the story of Walsingham.
5. Empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.
Sin with vanity had fill'd the works of men.
Think not when woman's transient breath is fled, that all her vanities at once are dead; succeeding vanities she still regards.
6. Ostentation; arrogance.
7. Inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride, inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations. Fops cannot be cured of their vanity.
Vanity is the food of fools.
No man sympathizes with the sorrows of vanity.
We see in here among other things the words, emptiness, fruitless desire, trifling labor, empty pleasure, arrogance, inflation of mind and others. Again all of these things are of self and there is no mention of God in them anywhere. Do these two definitions not meet the meaning of the term self-esteem? To emphasize that let us also take a look at the term, “self-esteem,” from the Webster’s 1828.
SELF-ESTEE'M, n. [self and esteem.] The esteem or good opinion of one's self.
The esteem or good opinion of one’s self. Is that not vanity and conceit? I repeated that because I believe it bears remembering. It is all of self. It is all about us and again gives no credit to God for anything. Let us take a long and serious look at the references in the Bible to the fact that the best self-esteem to have is NO self-esteem.
(Romans 1:22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Professing themselves to be wise; is that not conceit and vanity? Is that not speaking to self-esteem? I believe that in going over the verses leading up to this one Paul is speaking particularly of the philosophers of old. That appears to be the “themselves” Paul is speaking of here. I again consult the Webster’s 1828 dictionary for an explanation of the word, “philosopher.”
PHILOS'OPHER, n. [See Philosophy.] A person versed in philosophy, or in the principles of nature and morality; one who devotes of nature and morality; one who devotes himself to the study of physics, or of moral or intellectual science.
1. In a general sense, one who is profoundly versed in any science.
It is interesting to note that Paul says these men are fools. In the New Testament we see sinners referred to quite often as fools. As the word is applied here it means to be void of understanding, having a lack of moral sense, idolaters and the wicked. Thus such conduct is corrupt. It is a corrupt understanding of men. We can see the sense of the depth of the foolishness of those that professed themselves to be wise in the use of the word “fools.” These folks pumped themselves up. They existed in vainglory. They took credit for everything. We see the result of that form of self-esteem in the Greek word that is translated, “fools,” in the New Testament. The very foolishness of this type of thought is exposed in the two definitions provided. On the one hand the men gave themselves credit for everything. The definition of the word shows that they had a profound knowledge of some science. However Paul says that all of that is nothing more than foolishness.
(2 Corinthians 5:15) And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
There is a lot of meat in that verse. Paying particular attention to that portion of the verse, which speaks to not living unto ourselves. The reason for that is given a few verses later in 2 Corinthians 5:18:
(2 Corinthians 5:18) And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
ALL things are of God! All things!!! All means all. Everything we have and everything we are is of God. We do not even possess our own lives. Look at the following verse:
(Galatians 2:20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I am crucified with Christ as a saved and born-again Christian. That means I am dead. My old man has died. How can I possibly be dead and yet live? It is not I, but Christ liveth in me. The lives we live in the flesh we live purely by the faith of the Son of God. It is not even our life. We must treat it thusly and give credit in all things to the Creator and the Saviour taking credit for nothing ourselves.
God has, through His grace, even allowed us to have this day. Have we anything to do with the fact we woke up today? God gave us the very air we breathe. God created the water necessary to maintain life, as we know it. All forms of life. God created the animals and plants we consume in order to sustain our bodies. God has given us everything. What have we as creations of the Creator to esteem ourselves about? Nothing, is my answer to that question. 2 Corinthians 5:15 specifically directs us to no longer live unto ourselves but unto Him which died for us and rose again.
Continuing in 2 Corinthians 5:15 with the instruction to henceforth not live unto ourselves that means from the time of salvation, from the very time of our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we are no longer to live unto our selves. From that very time we should live for Him which died for us, and rose again. We ought not seek our own honor, profit and pleasure. We are to seek Him in all righteousness and holiness. We cannot do that if we are esteeming ourselves in any way.
(2 Corinthians 10:12) For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
Notice particularly the use of the words, “dare not,” in that verse. That is pretty strongly worded. We dare not; don’t even think about it much less go there. Go where? In the same place (of the number) with those that commend themselves. Here we see the Apostle Paul telling us to not even think about indulging in self-esteem.
This verse is directly tied to Romans 1:22 in the use of the ending phrase of, “are not wise.” If someone is not wise what is the alternative? Foolishness. I will in no way attempt to rewrite the Bible but the ending of this verse could very well have been rendered, and comparing themselves among themselves, they became fools. Gill in his commentary says they are not even aware of how foolish they have become; how ridiculous they have made themselves by commending themselves. That is nothing short of conceit and vainglory.
We are told in this verse to refute the foolish bragging of ambitious men. Such men can bring nothing of themselves. They quite obviously, falsely think highly of themselves. It is vanity to attribute anything to ourselves. If we are guilty of so doing we are in effect condemning others. By making ourselves out to be good we are doing it at the expense of others and comparing ourselves among ourselves.
(Philippians 2:3) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
This friends, is a command! Let NOTHING be done through such things. This means to do nothing that could cause detriment to anyone else. This includes superiority of intellect, schemes and plans that could cause rivalry, angry passions, or anything done in the spirit of ambition. We, as Christians, are to live by principles with a desire toward Truth and to glorify God. Esteeming ourselves does not glorify God.
Vainglory means literally empty pride. The sense of the word as used here seems to be that of mere self-esteem. It speaks to a desire to honor ourselves, or even an attempt to honor ourselves.
Lowliness of mind is the exact opposite of self-esteem. If we are filled with self-esteem we cannot assume a position of lowliness of mind. Lowliness of mind deals with modesty and humility. Please note the words rendered, “lowliness of mind,” here are exactly the same as the word that is translated as humility in Acts 20:19, Colossians 2:18, Colossians 2:23, 1 Peter 5:15, as humbleness in Colossians 3:12 and lowliness in Ephesians 4:2. It stands opposed to pride or self-esteem (self worth).
(Philippians 2:5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (Philippians 2:7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2:8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
In Philippians 2:5 the object of this reference to the Saviour is to reinforce humility. Humility, which is the opposite of conceit, vainglory and self-esteem. We see the command issued here to frame our lives in accordance with the best of examples. Continuing in these verses we see the Divine Stature of Jesus Christ. He is in the form of God yet the sense of the wording used here is that He had not a resemblance, but a true equality with God. He was co-equal with God in all respects and yet He humbled Himself. He took on no glory or credit Himself.
We find here the perfect example of how a man ought conduct himself in the eyes of God. Need I mention that God is watching our every move and the way we conduct our selves in the eyes of man is the way God sees us? It has been shown that He was equal in all ways to God yet He humbled Himself, as a man ought do. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ became humble and obedient to God to the very death He suffered, which was a death usually reserved to beggars and servants.
If our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ would not take any credit for anything of Himself, even though He is God, the Son, how can we as creations of the Creator take credit for anything we do of ourselves? It can’t be done.
(Luke 14:11) For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Look long and hard at this verse. Here we see, in no uncertain terms, that if we are involved in any kind of self-worth, self-righteousness, self-esteem or self anything we SHALL be abased. The Greek word expressed here as “exalteth,” means to elevate literally or figuratively or to lift up. If we are involved in any kind of self elevation or lifting ourselves up we SHALL be abased. Let us look at the word “abased.”
G5013
ταπεινόω
tapeinoō
tap-i-no'-o
From G5011; to depress; figuratively to humiliate (in condition or heart): - abase, bring low, humble (self).
My word friends, we see here that if we are involved in any kind of self exaltation that God will depress us, humiliate us, bring us low and humble us. Quite frankly I would rather assume a position of complete lack of self-worth and humility than to run the risk of how God may decide to bring me low. That is a rather frightening thought.
We see hope in that same verse though. The second clause in the verse says that if we assume the position of lowness, humility and suppress self God will do the exalting. How many times throughout the Bible do we see stories of God elevating people of low stature to positions of height to confound the wise? There are so many indications of what God will do for us if we maintain the position of humility and get out of ourselves. The story of David comes to mind in which God chose a lowly shepherd boy to become the King of Israel. That is but one example. My word, C. I. Scofield of the Scofield Bible was a drunken sot for many years. Yet God chose him to write one of the most widely used reference Bibles in existence. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress humbled himself and chose to stay in prison rather than recant his Christian beliefs and be released. The result was that he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress while he was in prison. There are many, many examples, not only in the Bible but also in more modern times of what God will do as far as exalting those who are in complete obedience to Him.
(2 Corinthians 10:5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Oh, I’ll tell you there is a lot of meaning in that one little verse! An incredible amount of meaning as a matter of fact. Gill, in his commentaries has an excellent exposition of this verse. Let me quote it for you below.
“2Co 10:5 - Casting down imaginations,.... Or "reasonings"; the carnal reasonings of the minds of natural men against God, his providences and purposes, against Christ, and the methods of salvation, and every truth of the Gospel; which are all disproved, silenced, and confounded, by the preaching of the word, which though reckoned the foolishness and weakness of God, appears to be wiser and stronger than men; and whereby the wisdom of the wise is destroyed, and the understanding of the prudent brought to nothing:
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; every proud thought of the heart, every great swelling word of vanity, every big look, even all the lofty looks and haughtiness of men, with every airy flight, and high towering imagination, reasoning, and argument advanced against the Gospel of Christ; which is here meant by the knowledge of God, and so called, because it is the means of leading souls into the knowledge of God, even into a better knowledge of him than can be attained to, either by the light of nature, or law of Moses; to a knowledge of him, and acquaintance with him in Christ the Mediator, in whom the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is given; and with which knowledge of God eternal life is connected, yea, in this it consists; it is the beginning of it, and will issue in it.
And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; or "carrying captive the whole understanding"; that is, so illustrating it with divine light, that it clearly sees Christ to be the alone, able, willing, full, and suitable Saviour, and so becomes obedient to him, both as a Saviour and a King; such an enlightened soul looks to him alone for life and salvation, ventures on him, and relies upon him, and is desirous and willing to be saved by him in his own way; he receives and embraces all his truths and doctrines with faith and love, and obeys them from the heart, and cheerfully and willingly submits to all his commands and ordinances; for though he is taken by the grace of God, and all his strong holds, reasonings, and high thoughts are demolished by the power of God in the Gospel, and he himself is carried captive, yet not against, but with his will, to be a voluntary subject of Christ, and cheerfully to submit to the sceptre of his kingdom.”
(Luke 18:9) And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (Luke 18:10) Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. (Luke 18:11) The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. (Luke 18:12) I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. (Luke 18:13) And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (Luke 18:14) I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
There is a story that needs little explanation. The Pharisee was exalting himself. He was attempting to compare himself among others. He was expressing conceit and self-worth by telling The Lord what a good man he was. The Publican merely admitted to God that he was a lowly sinner that dared not even lift his eyes toward heaven and asked mercy of God. What was the result of his complete lack of self-esteem? He went home justified. The conclusion of the story is an echo of the verse quoted previously from Luke 14. I believe that if something is important enough to put in the Bible more than once we ought pay particular attention to it.
(Isaiah 64:6) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
There are two key words in that verse: we and our. In the first clause the word we is used meaning we as human beings. We are polluted and defiled. How can we have any pride or self-esteem when we are in such a condition? We are spoiled and rotten as a piece of meat that has sat out in the open for too long and turns smelly and discolored. That is how well we do things.
All our righteousnesses – I believe this to mean the things we do of ourselves. The things we do without God. All means all. Everything we do without God is nothing but a filthy rag. The sense of the words used here are the same as those used to describe the rags used to bind the leper’s wounds. All the things we are capable of doing on our own are nothing more than the filthiest, most disdainful rags in the entire world in the eyes of God. How can this even lend anyone to any kind of sense of self-esteem? How can we have any kind of pride or even dignity under these circumstances?
Friends, brothers and sisters, let me put it to you bluntly. Everything we have and everything we are is a gift of God. God allows us to wake up each day that we do wake up. God gives us the very air we breathe. It is His creation. God has provided the water that every living thing known in this world needs to survive. One of the very first rules of physics is that man can neither create nor destroy matter. Matter consists of everything we have and everything we will ever have that is of a material nature. God created it all and very lovingly allows us to be stewards of it for a short period.
(Psalms 118:24) This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day which THE LORD hath made!!! Can we take any credit for it? Can we assume any self-worth considering God made the very day we have in front of us? No! Absolutely not! Not only that but we see a command here. We WILL rejoice and be glad in it. We are not told to feel sorry for ourselves. We are not told to whine and complain. We are not told to think that our lives are terrible because we have low self-esteem. We are told we WILL rejoice in every single day The Lord feels fit to give us.
Low self-esteem? I sincerely believe that if we have ANY self-esteem we have too much. Can we even take the slightest bit of pride or self-worth in the fact that we may have conducted most of our lives today as a Christian ought to walk? No!!! We are expected to do that. How can we take any self-esteem, self-worth or pride in doing anything that God expects us to do anyway? Not only that, but most of us probably do a pretty rotten job of living the way God expects us to.
In closing let me leave you with one final Bible verse.
(Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
We can do all things through CHRIST. Christ provides the strength. I believe we can look at this verse in two ways. One is that Christ provides the strength for us to go on. The other is that we can do all the things that are good (provide strength whether physical, emotional or spiritual) for us through Christ.
It has nothing to do with us!
Yours in Christ,
George
I wanted to share something with you that has really been on my mind lately. I mentioned in another thread that God scourged me Sunday evening. One of the things He literally beat out of me was self-esteem.
I wrote this some time back. It is a good study so I asked Preacher Ben to see if I had posted it to the boards previously. It has not been moved from elsewhere so it apparently did not get posted here.
Therefore, here is the study on self-esteem. I sincerely hope and pray you can and do use it in your daily lives and your relationship with God.
_______________________________________________
Self Esteem
It is very common in the world today to attribute a lot of the problems people have in their lives to a state of low self-esteem. When I think of the term, “self-esteem,” I immediately think of vanity and conceit. Self-esteem is a term that is widely used by society and particularly the modern psychologist and psychiatrist crowd. It is extremely common among post-modernists and secular humanists.
I believe that attempting to increase self-esteem is something that we cannot and should not do. It is similar to chasing the wind. How can we successfully chase and catch something that has no basis? How can we possibly esteem ourselves in any way? I sincerely believe the Bible says the best self-esteem to have is NO self-esteem. I will attempt to expose that statement using the Bible.
Let us first take a look at the word, “conceit,” as found in the Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.
CONCEIT, n. [L., to take or seize.]
1. Conception; that which is conceived, imagined, or formed in the mind; idea; thought; image.
In laughing there ever precedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous, and therefore it is proper to man.
2. Understanding; power or faculty of conceiving; apprehension; as a man of quick conceit. [Nearly antiquated.] How often did her eyes say to me, that they loved! Yet I, not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them.
3. Opinion; notion; fancy; imagination; fantastic notion; as a strange or odd conceit.
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 26.
4. Pleasant fancy; gayety of imagination.
On the way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit.
5. A striking thought; affected or unnatural conception.
Some to conceit alone their works confine.
6. Favorable or self-flattering opinion; a lofty or vain conception of ones own person or accomplishments.
By a little study and a great conceit of himself, he has lost his religion.
Notice first and foremost there is no mention of God in any of that definition. It is all of self. Pay particular attention to #6 in the list, which I believe to be the equivalent of self-esteem. Self-flattering and vain conception are two of the phrases used in that one meaning of the word, “conceit.” It is all about self and not of God in any way.
Let us also take a look at the definition of the word, “vanity,” from that same dictionary.
VAN'ITY, n. [L. vanitas, from vanus, vain.]
1. Emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity.
Vanity of vanities, said the preacher; all is vanity. Eccles. 1.
2. Fruitless desire or endeavor.
Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come.
3. Trifling labor that produces no good.
4. Emptiness; untruth
Here I may well show the vanity of what is reported in the story of Walsingham.
5. Empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.
Sin with vanity had fill'd the works of men.
Think not when woman's transient breath is fled, that all her vanities at once are dead; succeeding vanities she still regards.
6. Ostentation; arrogance.
7. Inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride, inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations. Fops cannot be cured of their vanity.
Vanity is the food of fools.
No man sympathizes with the sorrows of vanity.
We see in here among other things the words, emptiness, fruitless desire, trifling labor, empty pleasure, arrogance, inflation of mind and others. Again all of these things are of self and there is no mention of God in them anywhere. Do these two definitions not meet the meaning of the term self-esteem? To emphasize that let us also take a look at the term, “self-esteem,” from the Webster’s 1828.
SELF-ESTEE'M, n. [self and esteem.] The esteem or good opinion of one's self.
The esteem or good opinion of one’s self. Is that not vanity and conceit? I repeated that because I believe it bears remembering. It is all of self. It is all about us and again gives no credit to God for anything. Let us take a long and serious look at the references in the Bible to the fact that the best self-esteem to have is NO self-esteem.
(Romans 1:22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Professing themselves to be wise; is that not conceit and vanity? Is that not speaking to self-esteem? I believe that in going over the verses leading up to this one Paul is speaking particularly of the philosophers of old. That appears to be the “themselves” Paul is speaking of here. I again consult the Webster’s 1828 dictionary for an explanation of the word, “philosopher.”
PHILOS'OPHER, n. [See Philosophy.] A person versed in philosophy, or in the principles of nature and morality; one who devotes of nature and morality; one who devotes himself to the study of physics, or of moral or intellectual science.
1. In a general sense, one who is profoundly versed in any science.
It is interesting to note that Paul says these men are fools. In the New Testament we see sinners referred to quite often as fools. As the word is applied here it means to be void of understanding, having a lack of moral sense, idolaters and the wicked. Thus such conduct is corrupt. It is a corrupt understanding of men. We can see the sense of the depth of the foolishness of those that professed themselves to be wise in the use of the word “fools.” These folks pumped themselves up. They existed in vainglory. They took credit for everything. We see the result of that form of self-esteem in the Greek word that is translated, “fools,” in the New Testament. The very foolishness of this type of thought is exposed in the two definitions provided. On the one hand the men gave themselves credit for everything. The definition of the word shows that they had a profound knowledge of some science. However Paul says that all of that is nothing more than foolishness.
(2 Corinthians 5:15) And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
There is a lot of meat in that verse. Paying particular attention to that portion of the verse, which speaks to not living unto ourselves. The reason for that is given a few verses later in 2 Corinthians 5:18:
(2 Corinthians 5:18) And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
ALL things are of God! All things!!! All means all. Everything we have and everything we are is of God. We do not even possess our own lives. Look at the following verse:
(Galatians 2:20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I am crucified with Christ as a saved and born-again Christian. That means I am dead. My old man has died. How can I possibly be dead and yet live? It is not I, but Christ liveth in me. The lives we live in the flesh we live purely by the faith of the Son of God. It is not even our life. We must treat it thusly and give credit in all things to the Creator and the Saviour taking credit for nothing ourselves.
God has, through His grace, even allowed us to have this day. Have we anything to do with the fact we woke up today? God gave us the very air we breathe. God created the water necessary to maintain life, as we know it. All forms of life. God created the animals and plants we consume in order to sustain our bodies. God has given us everything. What have we as creations of the Creator to esteem ourselves about? Nothing, is my answer to that question. 2 Corinthians 5:15 specifically directs us to no longer live unto ourselves but unto Him which died for us and rose again.
Continuing in 2 Corinthians 5:15 with the instruction to henceforth not live unto ourselves that means from the time of salvation, from the very time of our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we are no longer to live unto our selves. From that very time we should live for Him which died for us, and rose again. We ought not seek our own honor, profit and pleasure. We are to seek Him in all righteousness and holiness. We cannot do that if we are esteeming ourselves in any way.
(2 Corinthians 10:12) For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
Notice particularly the use of the words, “dare not,” in that verse. That is pretty strongly worded. We dare not; don’t even think about it much less go there. Go where? In the same place (of the number) with those that commend themselves. Here we see the Apostle Paul telling us to not even think about indulging in self-esteem.
This verse is directly tied to Romans 1:22 in the use of the ending phrase of, “are not wise.” If someone is not wise what is the alternative? Foolishness. I will in no way attempt to rewrite the Bible but the ending of this verse could very well have been rendered, and comparing themselves among themselves, they became fools. Gill in his commentary says they are not even aware of how foolish they have become; how ridiculous they have made themselves by commending themselves. That is nothing short of conceit and vainglory.
We are told in this verse to refute the foolish bragging of ambitious men. Such men can bring nothing of themselves. They quite obviously, falsely think highly of themselves. It is vanity to attribute anything to ourselves. If we are guilty of so doing we are in effect condemning others. By making ourselves out to be good we are doing it at the expense of others and comparing ourselves among ourselves.
(Philippians 2:3) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
This friends, is a command! Let NOTHING be done through such things. This means to do nothing that could cause detriment to anyone else. This includes superiority of intellect, schemes and plans that could cause rivalry, angry passions, or anything done in the spirit of ambition. We, as Christians, are to live by principles with a desire toward Truth and to glorify God. Esteeming ourselves does not glorify God.
Vainglory means literally empty pride. The sense of the word as used here seems to be that of mere self-esteem. It speaks to a desire to honor ourselves, or even an attempt to honor ourselves.
Lowliness of mind is the exact opposite of self-esteem. If we are filled with self-esteem we cannot assume a position of lowliness of mind. Lowliness of mind deals with modesty and humility. Please note the words rendered, “lowliness of mind,” here are exactly the same as the word that is translated as humility in Acts 20:19, Colossians 2:18, Colossians 2:23, 1 Peter 5:15, as humbleness in Colossians 3:12 and lowliness in Ephesians 4:2. It stands opposed to pride or self-esteem (self worth).
(Philippians 2:5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (Philippians 2:7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2:8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
In Philippians 2:5 the object of this reference to the Saviour is to reinforce humility. Humility, which is the opposite of conceit, vainglory and self-esteem. We see the command issued here to frame our lives in accordance with the best of examples. Continuing in these verses we see the Divine Stature of Jesus Christ. He is in the form of God yet the sense of the wording used here is that He had not a resemblance, but a true equality with God. He was co-equal with God in all respects and yet He humbled Himself. He took on no glory or credit Himself.
We find here the perfect example of how a man ought conduct himself in the eyes of God. Need I mention that God is watching our every move and the way we conduct our selves in the eyes of man is the way God sees us? It has been shown that He was equal in all ways to God yet He humbled Himself, as a man ought do. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ became humble and obedient to God to the very death He suffered, which was a death usually reserved to beggars and servants.
If our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ would not take any credit for anything of Himself, even though He is God, the Son, how can we as creations of the Creator take credit for anything we do of ourselves? It can’t be done.
(Luke 14:11) For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Look long and hard at this verse. Here we see, in no uncertain terms, that if we are involved in any kind of self-worth, self-righteousness, self-esteem or self anything we SHALL be abased. The Greek word expressed here as “exalteth,” means to elevate literally or figuratively or to lift up. If we are involved in any kind of self elevation or lifting ourselves up we SHALL be abased. Let us look at the word “abased.”
G5013
ταπεινόω
tapeinoō
tap-i-no'-o
From G5011; to depress; figuratively to humiliate (in condition or heart): - abase, bring low, humble (self).
My word friends, we see here that if we are involved in any kind of self exaltation that God will depress us, humiliate us, bring us low and humble us. Quite frankly I would rather assume a position of complete lack of self-worth and humility than to run the risk of how God may decide to bring me low. That is a rather frightening thought.
We see hope in that same verse though. The second clause in the verse says that if we assume the position of lowness, humility and suppress self God will do the exalting. How many times throughout the Bible do we see stories of God elevating people of low stature to positions of height to confound the wise? There are so many indications of what God will do for us if we maintain the position of humility and get out of ourselves. The story of David comes to mind in which God chose a lowly shepherd boy to become the King of Israel. That is but one example. My word, C. I. Scofield of the Scofield Bible was a drunken sot for many years. Yet God chose him to write one of the most widely used reference Bibles in existence. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress humbled himself and chose to stay in prison rather than recant his Christian beliefs and be released. The result was that he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress while he was in prison. There are many, many examples, not only in the Bible but also in more modern times of what God will do as far as exalting those who are in complete obedience to Him.
(2 Corinthians 10:5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Oh, I’ll tell you there is a lot of meaning in that one little verse! An incredible amount of meaning as a matter of fact. Gill, in his commentaries has an excellent exposition of this verse. Let me quote it for you below.
“2Co 10:5 - Casting down imaginations,.... Or "reasonings"; the carnal reasonings of the minds of natural men against God, his providences and purposes, against Christ, and the methods of salvation, and every truth of the Gospel; which are all disproved, silenced, and confounded, by the preaching of the word, which though reckoned the foolishness and weakness of God, appears to be wiser and stronger than men; and whereby the wisdom of the wise is destroyed, and the understanding of the prudent brought to nothing:
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; every proud thought of the heart, every great swelling word of vanity, every big look, even all the lofty looks and haughtiness of men, with every airy flight, and high towering imagination, reasoning, and argument advanced against the Gospel of Christ; which is here meant by the knowledge of God, and so called, because it is the means of leading souls into the knowledge of God, even into a better knowledge of him than can be attained to, either by the light of nature, or law of Moses; to a knowledge of him, and acquaintance with him in Christ the Mediator, in whom the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is given; and with which knowledge of God eternal life is connected, yea, in this it consists; it is the beginning of it, and will issue in it.
And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; or "carrying captive the whole understanding"; that is, so illustrating it with divine light, that it clearly sees Christ to be the alone, able, willing, full, and suitable Saviour, and so becomes obedient to him, both as a Saviour and a King; such an enlightened soul looks to him alone for life and salvation, ventures on him, and relies upon him, and is desirous and willing to be saved by him in his own way; he receives and embraces all his truths and doctrines with faith and love, and obeys them from the heart, and cheerfully and willingly submits to all his commands and ordinances; for though he is taken by the grace of God, and all his strong holds, reasonings, and high thoughts are demolished by the power of God in the Gospel, and he himself is carried captive, yet not against, but with his will, to be a voluntary subject of Christ, and cheerfully to submit to the sceptre of his kingdom.”
(Luke 18:9) And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (Luke 18:10) Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. (Luke 18:11) The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. (Luke 18:12) I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. (Luke 18:13) And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (Luke 18:14) I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
There is a story that needs little explanation. The Pharisee was exalting himself. He was attempting to compare himself among others. He was expressing conceit and self-worth by telling The Lord what a good man he was. The Publican merely admitted to God that he was a lowly sinner that dared not even lift his eyes toward heaven and asked mercy of God. What was the result of his complete lack of self-esteem? He went home justified. The conclusion of the story is an echo of the verse quoted previously from Luke 14. I believe that if something is important enough to put in the Bible more than once we ought pay particular attention to it.
(Isaiah 64:6) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
There are two key words in that verse: we and our. In the first clause the word we is used meaning we as human beings. We are polluted and defiled. How can we have any pride or self-esteem when we are in such a condition? We are spoiled and rotten as a piece of meat that has sat out in the open for too long and turns smelly and discolored. That is how well we do things.
All our righteousnesses – I believe this to mean the things we do of ourselves. The things we do without God. All means all. Everything we do without God is nothing but a filthy rag. The sense of the words used here are the same as those used to describe the rags used to bind the leper’s wounds. All the things we are capable of doing on our own are nothing more than the filthiest, most disdainful rags in the entire world in the eyes of God. How can this even lend anyone to any kind of sense of self-esteem? How can we have any kind of pride or even dignity under these circumstances?
Friends, brothers and sisters, let me put it to you bluntly. Everything we have and everything we are is a gift of God. God allows us to wake up each day that we do wake up. God gives us the very air we breathe. It is His creation. God has provided the water that every living thing known in this world needs to survive. One of the very first rules of physics is that man can neither create nor destroy matter. Matter consists of everything we have and everything we will ever have that is of a material nature. God created it all and very lovingly allows us to be stewards of it for a short period.
(Psalms 118:24) This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day which THE LORD hath made!!! Can we take any credit for it? Can we assume any self-worth considering God made the very day we have in front of us? No! Absolutely not! Not only that but we see a command here. We WILL rejoice and be glad in it. We are not told to feel sorry for ourselves. We are not told to whine and complain. We are not told to think that our lives are terrible because we have low self-esteem. We are told we WILL rejoice in every single day The Lord feels fit to give us.
Low self-esteem? I sincerely believe that if we have ANY self-esteem we have too much. Can we even take the slightest bit of pride or self-worth in the fact that we may have conducted most of our lives today as a Christian ought to walk? No!!! We are expected to do that. How can we take any self-esteem, self-worth or pride in doing anything that God expects us to do anyway? Not only that, but most of us probably do a pretty rotten job of living the way God expects us to.
In closing let me leave you with one final Bible verse.
(Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
We can do all things through CHRIST. Christ provides the strength. I believe we can look at this verse in two ways. One is that Christ provides the strength for us to go on. The other is that we can do all the things that are good (provide strength whether physical, emotional or spiritual) for us through Christ.
It has nothing to do with us!
Yours in Christ,
George