SELF-ESTEEM IN ITS HEALTHY FORM IS UNDERMINED BY CHRIST
Feeling good about yourself and liking yourself. If you don’t
like yourself you can’t like other people either. You will be afraid
they will not like you either or notice what it is that you don't
like about yourself . Self-esteem is a sin in the Bible, God’s word,
for it commands that you should look up to everybody else as better
than yourself (Philippians 2:3). So you shouldn’t think you are as
good as anybody else or let anybody else think they are good. In the
Sermon on the Mount, Christ taught that if you love those who love
you then you deserve no praise for that for even evil people love
those who care about and for them (Matthew 5:46-48). If this love
deserves no reward as Christ says then how much less of a reward one
must deserve for loving oneself? Jesus says evil people get no
reward for loving their families and friends. He really hates evil
people when he says that you should get no reward even if you are
good person and care for your family and friends simply because they
care for theirs too. It is like saying that people should be
condemned for reading the Koran just because it is the "bad
Muslim's" book!
Jesus' message is that if we look after our health it is to be
solely so that we can help others and not burden them. Self-love
then is no good. This tells us that if we do good for ourselves we
must do it only for others and it must have nothing to do with
looking for anything from them. You must serve them even if they
hate you and plot against you.
The Bible also says that it is a sin to think you know anything
without loving God (1 Corinthians 8:1-3). Only true Christians love
God according to the Bible for they are born again so nothing
anybody says who is not a Christian is to be valued. You need God to
know things, for you are good for nothing.
Self-esteem makes a person rejoice in making others happy for he or
she wants to share and find his or her happiness through others. To
do this properly it is necessary to avoid anti-social acts like
stealing and slandering and lying.
Christianity says we must do good for others just because it
benefits God. It says that as we are not 100% sure God exists, we
must have the attitude, "Hypothetically if God does not exist we
must do it just because it benefits others". If the faith really
believes all that then it is a sin to say you were glad you did the
good because you enjoyed it.
Luke 17:7-10 (ESV) - 7 Jesus said, "Will any one of you who has a
servant ploughing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in
from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not
rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and
serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and
drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was
commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were
commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what
was our duty.’”
That says it all! It proves that if Jesus said love your neighbour
as yourself he meant do good actions and it is not about feeling
good or loving. In fact he commanded that you must feel you are no
good.