Finding Competence

When our depression has a firm grip on us it’s difficult to have good self-esteem. We feel less valued by those around us. Self-esteem is the overall opinion and value we place on ourselves, reflecting how much we respect, accept, and believe in our own worth and abilities. Our depression impacts how we see ourselves, which more than likely isn’t a true assessment of how others see us. So, in a sense, our low self-esteem is a false image in our own minds. However, this false image is true to us when we are in the dark of depression. Many times it’s hard to see the truth in the dark. There are ways to combat our low self-esteem.

In order to combat our low self-esteem, we must challenge the negative thoughts we have about ourselves. We must look at the lies we believe and line them up with truth. However, this is no easy task, but is a worthy task that will lead us to a higher self-esteem. Where do we find the truth? Do we look to society to lift our self-esteem? A society that portrays the average looking person as being less than. A society full of corruption and misguided beliefs. A society that says you have to look, say, and do certain things to fit in. May I say that we will never be able to live up to the expectations of society. So if we can’t trust society, who can we trust? There’s one place we can turn to find our true worth. Our value isn’t found in society, it’s found in God. God created us in His image. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Since we are created in God’s image, we have high value. Our self-esteem should be based on God’s opinion, not on the opinion of others.

The apostle Paul wrote to the people in Corinth, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). Our competence is from God. When we turn to God we will begin to see ourselves as God sees us. The opinions of others shouldn’t be our measuring stick for our competence. We need to look to God in order to have a higher self-esteem. After all God knows us better than we know ourselves, so who better to find our worth in than someone who truly knows us. Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” In Jesus all things are possible. Through the strength and guidance of Jesus we can do things that society doubts we can do. This is how we can shed our low self-esteem. We look at how Jesus sees us, When He looks at us He sees someone of value, someone who can do great things. May we turn away from the lies of society and turn to Jesus, who truly knows our capabilities and value.