High self esteem is atheistic paganism! Psychiatry promotes Self-esteem rather than Biblical selflessness:

The Bible teaches low self esteem, not high!

"in the last days men will be lovers of self" 2 Timothy 3:1-2
Christians forget the past, ignore the present and focus on Christ in heaven.
Biblical low self esteem means that we deny ourselves, die to self, and view everyone else in a higher esteem than ourselves.
People confuse low self esteem as being the same as having no self confidence. The opposite is true. Christ had low self esteem and he was very confident who he was and what talents and skills he possessed. We need to do the same.

Fact: Mentally ill people are almost always Narcissists.

Psychiatry wrongly focuses on self esteem and use therapy methods that are opposite to what the Bible says!

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Psychiatry is Anti-Christian
Psychiatry is Atheistic
Psychiatry is Humanistic

Let me tell you about my terrible life:

I once had it all: In my home country, I had it all: money, the best education, highly respected, the best food, a nice house. I recently converted to Christianity and a Fatwa of death was issued against me of my former religion. I had to give it all up and flee to a foreign country because of many death threats. Now I am a homeless refugee who suffers in cold and exposure with many sleepless nights.
I have no material possessions: I am now a considered a second class citizen in my new country and I work for people who won't give me any money like a slave. I have to get a second job just to feed myself. I am often hungry and thirsty. I am dressed in old second hand clothes because I am poor and have nothing. I don't even have any money for food. I am like Cinderella, working and labouring for others, while enduring ridicule and hardship with nothing to show for it, not even a thank you or appreciation.
I am a "nobody" that everybody hates: I don't feel I belong anywhere on earth now and am considered an alien in the country I now live. If I died, no one would miss me since I am an unknown, nobody. I have no honor or respect. Instead people call me a fool, insult and revile me, dishonor me, call me a liar and a deceiver, slander me, make up evil reports about me. People call me the scum of the world and the dregs of all things. I have no fame or celebrity. I am afflicted in every way!
I am in trouble with the law: I have been beaten 8 times with whips and rods. Once I was stoned and left for dead. Three times I was shipwrecked which caused me to spend 24 hours floating around in the sea. I am persecuted, roughly treated, struck down, punished and frequently condemned to death. Many times I have been in jail.
I am in constant danger: I have no personal security and I never feel safe. Every hour of the day people are plotting against me. My family want to kill me. The country that I was born in sends assassins who follow me into foreign countries. I am forced to flee across dangerous rivers and seas. Sometimes I must retreat to desolate wilderness areas to save my life, only to get robbed. When I enter a strange city I am in danger because some of the new friends betray me and cause me much harm by turning me over to authorities to be arrested.
My body is sick and sore: When people hear me talk, they ridicule me because of my speech impediment. I have come close to dying many times and my body is weak. When people look at me they see the scars and deformities on my face and body from being tortured.
Emotional stress: The opposite sex does not find me attractive and I have no spouse to share my life with, help me when I am sick or encourage me when I feel sorrowful. I am not concerned about myself, but I spend all my time helping others who are more important than me. In fact, I worry more about others who live in luxury, wealth and honour, than myself!
Imitate me: The thing that people can't figure out is why I am happy, content and joy filled all the time. I ask that you imitate me. I am sure you live higher standard of living than me with fewer problems. So next time you feel depressed or anxious because of bad stuff that is happening to you right now, remember me. I am the apostle Paul who sang to Jesus while in jail, after a brutal and painful beating. If you do imitate me, we will meet one day.
Can you guess who I am? The apostle Paul!

Introduction:

High self esteem is a sin: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self" 2 Timothy 3:1-2
The claimed distinction between self-love & selfishness is false, since they are one and the same thing.
People confuse low self esteem as being the same as having no self confidence. The opposite is true. Christ had low self esteem and he was very confident who he was and what talents and skills he possessed. We need to do the same. We are to have high self confidence, but the humility that goes with low self esteem as viewing others with less skills than we possess, as more important than ourselves.
The Bible teaches we are to have low self esteem: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus," Philippians 2:3-5
The self-image, positive self-esteem movement has its origin in the "doctrines of demons", atheism, humanism and paganism. It is entirely anti-Christian! 1 Tim 4:1-4.
The psychiatry industry believes low self esteem causes mental illness, when in fact the opposite is true. The psychiatry industry has had such an influence on society since the 1960's, that the concept of "Self-Esteem" is seen as being a truth like the law of gravity! "liberals, non-believers, and bible-believing Christians alike are caught up in the self-esteem movement" (The Biblical view of Self-Esteem, Jay Adams, p7)
In 1670 AD, Richard Baxter, Church Minister, took the view that insanity and depression were caused by life circumstances, moral choices and sins of an individual. First on his list of causes of melancholy was: "SINFUL Impatience, Discontents and Cares, proceeding from a Sinful Love of some bodily Interest, and from want of sufficient Submission to the will of God, and Trust in him, and taking Heaven for a satisfying Portion. This is one of the most common Causes". He then goes on to list things like: "when they are in Debt to others", "the secret Root or Cause of all this, is the worst Part of the Sin, which is too much Love to the Body and this World". He also identifies high self esteem and a lack of contentment as a cause: "not sufficiently humbled for our Sin, or else we should be thankful for the lowest State, as being much better than that which we deserved". He also identifies cognitive dissonance (bad conscience) as a trigger of insanity: "great Cause is the Guilt of some great and wilful Sin, when Conscience is convinced, and yet the Soul is not converted". His cure of insanity was to repent: "repent, to love God and your Neighbour, to live soberly, righteously and godly, to pray at all; here you must strive, and not excuse it by any Backwardness; for it is that which must needs be done, or you are lost". Although he believed typical Hypocrites junk medicine, he attributed depression and mental illness to freewill choices and not the body. Repentance, he believed, would correct the melancholy blood and restore the person to normal. (The Signs and Causes of Melancholy, Richard Baxter, 1670 AD)
"Self-esteem has become embellished to the point where lack of it is generally accepted as one of the major causes of personal and social problems, which must be directly addressed before people will change or social problems can be solved. As one psychologist wrote: "every theory of mental health considers a positive self-concept to be the cornerstone of a healthy ego" (Manufacturing Victims, Dr. Tana Dineen, 2001, p 171)
If you have "low self-esteem" and your mental health counselor "fixes" you so that you have "high self-esteem", you have denied the faith and forfeited your salvation.
We have discovered a new mental illness that we are requesting be added to the DSM-5 as a new disorder: We call it the "high self-esteem anxiety disorder". It is when people loose sleep because they are not living a standard of living as high as they think deserve!
The real problem with almost all mentally ill people is narcissism or high self esteem!
High self-esteem is always present in every suicide. When a person commits suicide saying their life is in the pits and not worth living, what are really saying is that they are worth much more than what they are presently getting out of life.
Sociological studies have proven that almost no one suffers from "low self esteem". Everyone seems to think they are better then the next guy!
Jesus who is God, practiced low self esteem and asked us to follow his example of denying self in serving others.
Serving others is a greater blessing than serving yourself! "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35
We should live with the attitude that we deserve to die, or be in jail, expect nothing more than what we presently have and rejoice each day you are alive in Christ who will save you!
The self-esteem movement is the devil's way of robbing men of hope, happiness and joy if they are mistreated by others. It creates a conditional joy that says: I can never be happy and feel good about myself as long as others do not see all the good and value that I possess!
Selfless love is unconditional, in spite of being mistreated: ""If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." Luke 6:32
The "positive image" movement, is the devil's way of getting men to praise men, rather than praising God. Chemical psychiatry promotes high self-esteem which makes men focus inwardly on themselves, rather than outwardly on God
The mental health industry wants to make you a king on the throne of your own life, rather than denying self, dying to self and putting Christ as the king of your life!
Christians forget the past, ignore the present and focus on Christ in heaven.
John Rosemond, a professional family psychologist who writes a nationally syndicated column which appears in the "Watertown Times," wrote an article entitled "Self-Esteem Isn't Praiseworthy Goal." ("Times." Sunday, December 9, 2001) He cited "an extensive study" "by professor Roy Baumeister of Case Western Reserve University (ref: 'Violent Pride,' Scientific American, April 2001)" which concluded, not surprisingly, "that people with high self-esteem tend to have low self-control." "Criminals, he has discovered, do not suffer from low self-esteem." Mr. Rosemond referenced a second study published in the November 2001 issue of "Personality and Social Psychology Review" which indicates "while self-esteem among America's youth has been on the rise for the past 30 years, accomplishment and responsible decision-making have been on the decline." He makes this admission that many in the mental health industry are 100% in error in promoting high self esteem, rather than low self esteem: "Perhaps the one goal American parents and educators agree on for children more than any other is "high self-esteem." (Keith Sharp)
Boyce Barger takes note that the mental health industry in general makes a big mistake of "blaming 'low self esteem' for all of the behavioral problems of children [and] seems to have been a special problem for many in my profession, but especially therapists who come out of the very liberal schools of 'social work.' I had opportunity some years ago to speak with a colleague, a social worker, who was talking about an especially vile young client who cursed, threatened, and dared just about every authority figure he met. She blamed his problem on 'low self esteem.' I responded that the problem for the client was self esteem that was too great, and that the social worker was the one with low self esteem. 'After all, you just let a middle schooler call you every nasty name in the book and you just stood there and took it.'" (Boyce F. Barger, LPC Licensed Professional Counselor)

A. Defining self esteem:

Biblical low self esteem means that we deny ourselves, die to self, and view everyone else in a higher esteem than ourselves.
Biblical esteem is not based upon our education, income, fame or physical beauty. Biblical esteem is the conscious choice of viewing all others as more important and valuable than ourselves.
Jesus, who is God, had low self esteem and left us His example to follow in our attitude towards others. Biblical low self esteem is when the creator denies his position and serves creatures far below Him in status. Jesus denied Himself for us and we are to follow His example and deny ourselves to serve others.
When we "deny ourselves" and view ALL others as more important than ourselves and serve those "below us" in worldly terms, we have Biblical low self esteem!
Brooke Shields, for example, teaches young girls to have high self esteem. What this really means is that Brooke is teaching girls to conduct themselves with entitlement, respect, honour, equality and servitude from men on the basis of gender alone! This is an example of the world's view of high self esteem and you would not want to be married to any of these girls when they grow up to be self-centered, self-serving, narcissists that expect men to cater to them.
Biblical low self esteem is when a brain surgeon views a janitor as more important. Biblical low self esteem is when kings view their servants as kings and when kings submit to their servants as though they were kings. Jeremiah 9:23-24
Often times, "a looser in the worlds eyes", with no job, education, social skills, has high self esteem viewing themselves as entitled to be given everything! Conversely truly amazingly talented and accomplished people like Albert Einstein, Paul McCartney, Donald Trump, George W. Bush often have low self esteem and humbly view others as more important than themselves.
Do not confuse high self esteem with a person's self confidence to do great things others cannot. The confidence of a highly skilled brain surgeon who won a Nobel prize, is not high self esteem. Jesus, being God, knew exactly who he was and the valuable contribution he was making to the world. We all know we have skills, gifts, talents and wealth that others do not. We need to use our gifts and talents to serve others! This is low self esteem... esteeming all others as more important than yourself, even though you outrank them in worldly terms!
High self esteem is when the brain surgeon demands respect of the "mere taxi driver" because of their relative rank differences in worldly terms. God doesn't see these differences and on judgement day, we the brain surgeon and the taxi driver will stand beside each other in front of God!
High self esteem is when some lazy, unskilled welfare dependant person with almost nothing to offer anyone even himself, walks around thinking he is more important than everybody else and entitled to be treated with respect.
Biblical low self esteem is when the top brain surgeon in the world, deliberately yields the right away to the "turban wearing unskilled immigrant taxi driver" because he views him as more important than himself.
Low self esteem has nothing to do with what we know, what we can do, what we possess, how we are honoured, political power, money in the bank or the hundreds we employ! Low self esteem is the attitude of God on earth serving all others as more important than ourselves.
Self esteem is not putting yourself down, neglecting your physical appearance or neglecting or harming your body: "These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence." Colossians 2:23

B. Four times Satan tempted with high self esteem:

In the wilderness Satan tempted Jesus to sin by violating his low self esteem. Jesus knew who He was, but nobody else knew! The temptation centered in the fact that Christ was dramatically under valued for who he really was. Everyone though he was a mere carpenter's son, when in fact he was the creator! Jesus had been keeping a perfect example of a low self-esteem... even though he was the highest, holiest, most powerful and sinless person who ever walked the earth! The devil wanted Jesus to have a high self esteem and make sure others knew he was better than them! What makes the temptation even worse, is that this was at the end of Jesus 40 day fast. It may have been 24 hours before Jesus began the process of actually teaching the world he was better than them... being their God and Saviour! The Devil was saying, "Hey Jesus, in a few days you are going to start your public ministry where you will start teaching people you are much, much more than a mere carpenter. I just want to help speed up the process a bit! If you throw yourself off the temple and everyone sees Angels catch your fall, everyone will know instantly that you someone better than they previously thought!... That is of course if you really are the Son of God. Perhaps I am mistaken and you are not really the son of God!" "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning You'; and 'On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.'" Matthew 4:6.
Peter forbade Christ to die on the cross. Peter was saying "you are too important and valuable and of too high an esteem to die on the cross. Why you are worth more than any man on earth! Don't you know your own self worth?". "From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." Matthew 16:21-23
"If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." Notice again that this is an attempt by Satan to appeal to the worth and high self esteem of Christ. Jesus knew he was the Son of God and wanted men to know it too. Jesus had the power to actually come down if he wanted: "twelve legions of angels" The temptation echoed the Devil's suggestion that he throw himself off the temple! They were mocking Jesus because he had successfully taught the world he was better than them all! They understood his claims of deity. This was a fact, but he still viewed all others as more important than himself and never violated his low self esteem. "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. "He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'" Matthew 27:40-43
After Satan failed and Jesus was crucified, he turned to keep Christians away from the cross. Sure the blood was shed, but if men do not become Christians then the cross of Christ won't save anyone! We are called to deny ourselves, take up our own cross and die to self! "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 16:24-25
Today, chemical psychiatry is promoting high self esteem as the Devil's way of keeping men away from denying themselves and being crucified along with Christ! The Devil failed to separate Christ from his cross, but is succeeding in keeping Christians away from the cross they must carry daily by promoting a "positive self image" and high self esteem.
Christ commanded us to have low self-esteem. The devil is using the mental health industry to disobey Christ and promoting high self esteem. Christians with a healthy, godly, Christ-like low self image, are being destroyed by humanistic, atheistic, pagan counselors to view themselves as something valuable! The Devil has deceived the entire world into thinking that low self esteem is the cause of mental illness. Think about that for a minute! We must have low self esteem to be a Christian, but the world tells us that is the gateway to mental illness! Further, the mental health industry believes it is important for everyone to realize they are valuable, worth something, when the Bible teaches that even Christians are worthless, except for their value in Christ. It is time for Christians to wake up and realize they are under attack from the chemical psychiatry industry.

C. The Bible commands low self esteem: Die to self!

The Bible never tells us to have "high self esteem". Instead we are told to have low self esteem!

"For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." Romans 12:3
"Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation." Romans 12:16
"When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom." Proverbs 11:2
"Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling." Proverbs 16:18
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus," Philippians 2:3-5
"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."" James 4:6
"And You save an afflicted people; But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase." 2 Samuel 22:28
"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:10-14
"Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;" Romans 11:20
"For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. "But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another." Galatians 6:3-4
"Thus says the Lord, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23-24
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."" 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy," 2 Timothy 3:1-2
"and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil." 1 Timothy 3:6
" Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me- to keep me from exalting myself!" 2 Corinthians 12:7
" Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." Matthew 16:24
"For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." 2 Corinthians 5:13-15
""Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
"Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him." Proverbs 22:15
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time," 1 Peter 5:6
"But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing." James 3:14-16

D. Christians are worthless, except for their value in Christ!

Psychiatry says "You are special." "You are of infinite worth." This directly contradicts the Bible:

The Bible never applies the word "precious" to God's people. The Bible says precious is the death of the righteous, not precious are the righteous when they die: "Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones." Psalm 116:15.
Our blessings are based upon God's love, not our value: "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." 1 John 3:1
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."" 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
"So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.' " Luke 17:10
"Thus says the Lord, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23-24
"And the [prodigal] son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'" Luke 15:21
From a salvation point of view, the Christian is totally worthless. However Christians who are obedient to God are said to be worthy over those who do not: "'But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy." Revelation 3:4.
"Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles." Acts 13:46
Only when we deny ourselves, do we find our worth in Christ. This is what Paul did in the New Testament, just like these Old Testament saints did: "(men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground." Hebrews 11:38.
""He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." Matthew 10:37-38
Jesus said we were worth more than birds: ""Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" Matthew 6:26" "you are more valuable than many sparrows." Luke 12:7
"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:6-10
The good shepherd leaves 99 sheep for the one lost sheep, not because of its value, but because of love!
"For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. "The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." Deuteronomy 7:6-8
"When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways." Psalm 95:9-10
"If even the moon has no brightness And the stars are not pure in His sight, How much less man, that maggot, And the son of man, that worm!" Job 25:5-6
"Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations." Ezekiel 36:31
This applied to those who came to their senses in the Babylonian captivity and correspond to the feelings should have about their past sins: "Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations." Ezekiel 6:9; 20:43; 36:31
Here is a passage that sums up all of humanity as being so worthless that when you weigh them on God's scale, we go up! This indicates we have nothing worthy in us. "Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up; They are together lighter than breath." Psalm 62:9
"I said in my alarm, "All men are liars."" Psalm 116:11
"What then? Are we [God's people] better than they [Gentiles]? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." "Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"; "Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."" Romans 3:9-18 [see: Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-3; 5:9; 140:3; 10:7; Is 59:7f; Ps 36:1]
"So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.' " Luke 17:10
God paid a price to get something worthless because he loves us: "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:20
"I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You." Psalm 16:2
"All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless." Isaiah 40:17
"And Abraham replied, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes." Genesis 18:27
"Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 25:30
"So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth." 1 Corinthians 3:7
" For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin." Romans 7:14
"Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" Romans 7:24
"For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;" 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
"He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

E. Low Self esteem and the golden rule:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" Matthew 22:39

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body." Ephesians 5:25-30

Some misuse the golden rule to "Love your neighbour as yourself" as proof the Bible promotes self esteem.
Myth: They argue that you cannot love another unless you love yourself. You cannot love yourself if you have low self esteem. You cannot love others correctly unless you have high self esteem. They wrongly argue that if a person has low self esteem, they will not be able to "love others" they way God wants them to treat them.
Truth: The idea is that a person with a bad view of their self (low self esteem) will treat you badly. This is utter non-sense! This is a complete misunderstanding of the golden rule. Jesus told us to treat other on the basis of how we desire to treated, not on the basis of what we deserve: "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12
We are to love others the way we want them to love us, not the way they are actually loving us. Therefore we are commanded to love others, in spite of others hating us. We don't like to be hated by others, we rather be loved. In this way we are to love others as ourselves, or as we would want others to love us.
The myth that you cannot love others, until you love yourself is rampant among psychiatry. Even Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist who correctly rejects drugs, shocks and psychiatric committal as treatments, promotes this myth: "Drawing on the concept of empathic self-transformation, she said to me, "I need to be the center of my own attention." She laughed and said, "Put that phrase in your book—I need to be the center of my own attention. I need to take care of myself before I can give myself fully to other people."" (The Heart of Being Helpful, Peter Breggin, 1997 AD. p 50)
Christians are told to have inner peace and be spiritually happy, content, joyful, secure even when everything about our physical life is war, in unhappiness, in need, when things are horrible and we feel insecure. A Christian derives his inner peace from Christ in spite of being tortured and gunned down in church by Muslims!
A criminal knows that they deserve to go to jail, but they don't really want to be in jail. Likewise, that rare criminal who views themselves with contempt for good reason, still wants others to treat him kindly even though he doesn't deserve it! So even a criminal who rightly views himself with contempt can fulfill the golden rule, because he knows how he wants to be treated... even if he is actually has feels he is unworthy of such good treatment. That utterly refutes the mental health industry's view that you cannot love others, if you view yourself of unworthy of love... as in the case of the criminal.
The Greek word for "love" is "agape". It is the love of action, not emotion. Bible love is best defined as "doing that with is another's best interest in spite of how it makes them feel." A parent punishing a child is true Bible love! The child wouldn't call it love, but the Bible says that a parent that will not spank their child, hates that child! "He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently." Proverbs 13:24
So a person with low self esteem (thinks they are a bad person compared to others) fully understands how they want to be treated and are completely capable of treating others the way they really want to be treated!
The Bible commands us to "love God with all our hearts", but is also tells us we are worthless. If we applied the mental health industries logic, the result would be that nobody could love God because in his eyes, we are worthless. But that is utterly false! Being worthless, we are fully capable of loving both God and our fellow man.
God loved us when we did not love Him: "We love, because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19. Therefore we are capable of loving others and God even if we do not love ourselves! Remember the Bible warns us about loving ourselves! Something every Christian and psychiatrist alike should keep in mind!
The parable of the prodigal has a father who hugs, kisses, throws a party, gives a robe and a family ring to a worthless child. "I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men." Luke 15:19 The father is motivated by love, not worth. The father was not saying, "hey son, you have low self esteem, but I want you to forget the past and have high self esteem". Instead, the father said, "you really destroyed your life and you have ruined your future and your reputation, but I still love you as my child, even though you are worthless." The gifts of the father to the prodigal was not to restore high self esteem or make him feel he was suddenly worthy, it was a gesture of unconditional love. In the same way, we are worthless before God, but his loved us while we were worthless and sent His son to die for us: Rom 5:8-10.

F. Low Self esteem and Loving your wife as yourself:

Another misused bible verse to promote high self esteem: "He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it" Ephesians 5:25-30.

Myth: The argument goes like this: "you must be able to love yourself or else you will fail in loving your wife!"

Truth: The analogy fails because love self is equated with physical maintenance of our bodies, not with self esteem! Notice the analogy is loving flesh, not loving who we are as persons! When we cut or injure out body, we all baby and pamper the hurting part. In fact we take special note of the injured part and give priority to it, over other parts that are not hurting. The passage says that the husband must yield priority of himself to the needs of his wife! Her needs are above his own needs! He is to care for her physical and emotional hurting needs, as though it was a physical injury on his own body. The passage clearly teaches that the husband is head of the wife, but that headship means he views her as more important than himself! Jesus said that the man must view the wife so much more important than himself, that he be willing to die for her... just like Christ died for the church!

G. Low Self esteem and a wife's submission to her husband:

"Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ... But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." Ephesians 5:22,24

The selflessness that every Christian must exemplify makes the doctrine of a wife submitting to her husband an insignificant issue.
The Christian (men and women) who dies to self for Christ and submits to him will find submitting to each other a simple, natural, loving, joy filled task.
The only women who complain about submitting to their husbands are self-centered, non-Christian narcissists who are violating a long string of Bible passages that apply equally to both men and women.
Women who object to submitting to their husbands, will also object to submitting to Christ. They fail to see that the entire church (men and women) must be submitting to Christ. They will be judged unworthy of eternal life, not because they wanted to rule the roost in their family, but because they never allowed Christ to rule over them!
Christian are told they must submit to many other humans: governments, elders, parents, husbands, church leaders, masters.
A woman who refuses to submit to her husband, will also refuse to submit to: elders, parents, church leaders, masters.
If a woman is obeying Christ and submitting to elders, parents, church leaders, masters, why is it suddenly a big deal to submit to their husbands?
Woman who oppose the Bible's teaching on submission are self-centered, rebellious and think too highly of themselves to submit to anybody else! Welcome to the feminist movement!

H. Low Self esteem and our value to God, "in his image"

Myth: I am valuable and important because I am made in the image of God: "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."" Genesis 1:26 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man." Genesis 9:6 "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14
Truth: Yes we are made in God's image, but that is a gift he gave us based upon his grace. We even rule of the animals but we still are humane to them. We were worth something before Adam ate the forbidden fruit. Now we are worthless. If we have sinned. we have no value... even though we are made in God's image.
Myth: "I was valuable and important enough that Christ died for me!"
Truth: When Jesus died for you, you were helpless, ungodly, worthless, a sinner, and God's enemy: Christ died for you because he loved you, not because of your value. You were not worth dying for, but out of love, He died anyway: "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:6-10
Myth: "I am more important than a non-Christian because I am the child of a king! God adopted me into His family! I am royalty! I am valuable!"
Truth: Yes you are adopted as the child of a king and royalty but this is based upon grace, not something you did or earned. Jesus is God, yet he did not view himself as more important than us, His creatures! Rom 5:8-10 says that we were worthless to God when Christ died for us.

I. The low self esteem of the tax collector!

"And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14

This parable the Pharisee and the tax collector was spoken against "people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt". However the root problem was high self-esteem!
The tax collector illustrated the perfect attitude we need to have every day of our Christian lives: "unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner'" Don't delude yourself that you are suddenly valuable to God. Your only value is in Christ, not you!
It should serve as a socking wakeup call to Christians, that the Pharisee had the exact kind of "positive self image" that the mental health industry and some preachers are promoting in the Lord's church! Now these preachers would deny this, but that is because they have not comprehended that having a positive self image is in fact identical to the attitude the of the Pharisee! These preachers need to tear up all their "we need to have self esteem" sermons as psychobabble from "Babble-onian" paganism! They do no understand the full implications of what they are preaching! They have bee conned by humanistic atheistic psychiatrists!
Just because you may not go around boasting you are better than others... like the tax collector, having a "healthy self esteem" still means you think highly of yourself... exactly like Jesus condemned!

J. Low self esteem of the Good Samaritan:

"Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.' "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."" Luke 10:30-37

The context of the good Samaritan shows that it is a functional model on how we are to actually fulfill the command to love others with low self esteem.
The parable ends with: "Go and do the same", not "sit down and think about how you love yourself, then do your best to be a good Samaritan". "Go and do the same" is not conditional in any way at all, much less on how we love ourselves. The idea that if you do not love yourself you are exempt from "Go and do the same" is absurd.
The Samaritan felt compassion because if it was him who was laying in the ditch, he would want to be helped by someone else!
Even if the Samaritan did not feel he deserved to be helped while laying in the ditch, he would still want to be helped!
Did you notice that it was the priest and the Levite who had high self-esteem? "I am too important to bother myself with this low life. I am a priest, my time is best spent doing something else. Helping him is going to take a lot of my precious time up, let someone else who is less important help. Let someone of a lower class use their time since it is not worth as much as my time."
So the "healthy self image" of the parable is seen in the priests and Levites who clearly thought they were superior to the commoner who lay penniless and bleeding in the ditch!
The Samaritan illustrated low self esteem by denying himself and his needs for another. Lets not forget that the Samaritan, like all of us, was on a journey. He had a purpose. People were expecting him. He was going to make others angry for being late. He also felt that his own money was better spent on another because that person was worth spending it on him! The Samaritan appears to be a prominent, wealthy business man who spent the night nursing the other man, but in the morning, needed to get back to business. He had the funds readily available to pay for the first night, including food and give the innkeeper two denarii which was equal to two days wages.
So as speculative as this may be, it quite possible that the Samaritan was a man of much higher worldly rank and position, than the priest and Levite. The irony is that the Levite would sneer at the Samaritan for being a worthless half Jew, who in fact was not only "worth more" in worldly terms, but approved in God's eyes! The Samaritian, under all circumstances was a perfect example of low self esteem.

K. Paul: A king with low self-esteem!

Paul was the up and rising star of the Jewish world in the first century. Paul had many reasons to think very highly of himself! Paul had impeccable Hebrew tradition (circumcised the 8th day), perfect pedigree (tribe of Benjamin), highest educational credentials (Gamaliel), highly respected among the Sanhedren (got letters from them to arrest Christians), was zealous in that he led the fight for the non-believing Jews against Christians by arresting them and murdering Stephen in Acts 7.
As a Jew, Paul lived the life of the rich and famous with the best food, best clothing, best housing, highest honor, respect and fame!
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today." Acts 22:3
"put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ," Philippians 3:2-8
Paul gave it all up and "counted this life as garbage" for one reason: Faith in Christ! "count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ" Phil 3.
Paul denied himself, died to self and spent the rest of his life serving people.
Peace in persecution: Paul is the perfect example of how a Christian ought to deny himself but be happiness and content. We are told to have inner peace and be happy, content, joyful and feel secure, even when everything about our physical life is war, unhappiness, in need, horrible and insecure. A Christian derives his inner peace from Christ in spite of being tortured and gunned down in a church service by Muslims! Christians die with a smile! Paul sings in jail after being beaten. Acts 16. Do not Fear: "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!" Luke 12:4-5

L. The Corinthians had high self esteem, Paul was selfless:

The root problem of the church at Corinth was high self esteem. The sins of the church at Corinth were caused by the same type of self image that psychiatrists and the mental health counselors think you should have. Psychologists would hold the Corinthians up as a model of a healthy self image! God had another opinion.
In the books of first and second Corinthians, the Holy Spirit chose to contrast the low self esteem of Paul with the high self esteem of the church in Corinth. The first three chapters are addressing their sin of choosing favorite preachers! They suffered from preacheritus! The church was divided into four sects, each of which felt that their preacher was the best! (1 Cor 1:12) They were proud, arrogant, and each viewed themselves as better than their fellow brothers and sisters. They even thought their choice of favorite preacher was better than other's choices in the church. There was a sense that one member was smarter and wiser than the other in judgement and opinions.
Paul on the other hand, contrasts their superior, rich attitude with his low self esteem.
The contrast of self esteems is stunning and it is the central theme of the two books! He then tells the Corinthians to imitate how he died to self.
Corinth was a notoriously immoral society. The expression "Corinthianize" was a widely used metaphor for sexual immorality and prostitution. Being a double sea port, the religion of the city was one that sailors loved to worship Aphrodite (Venus) in the temple! They never missed "church" in Corinth! This is because practicing their religion involved having sex with one of 1,000 prostitutes for a donation to the treasury!
The very first thing Paul attacks was that the Corinthians had a high self esteem, so much so, that they felt they were so good, that they were tolerant of extreme sin! Notice that this attack on their high self image was followed by his rebuke that they allowed an openly immoral man to worship with them without criticism:
"For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me." 1 Corinthians 4:7-16
High self-esteem is the red carpet that leads to tolerating sin. They had such a high self image of themselves as a church, that didn't want to tarnish this image by making a public spectacle of the needed public rebuke. We all know that withdrawing from a member is a humiliating, embarrassing and degrading thing for a congregation to have to do. It shows the world that Christians are no better than them! A humble group of Christians realizes that sometimes we are not better than the world! A congregation of Christians who have no self esteem, would not hesitate to rebuke the sinful man: "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst." 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
"Why are we also in danger every hour? I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."" 1 Corinthians 15:30-33
Every morning Paul woke up he might ask, "who is going to beat me up today?" He did not like this, any more than Jesus liked being crucified. Paul speaks about welcoming physical death, but never considered suicide! "For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;" 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." 2 Corinthians 4:7-11
"giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things." 2 Corinthians 6:3-10
"To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else is bold—I speak in foolishness—I am just as bold myself. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands." 2 Corinthians 11:21-33
2 Cor 12, is one of the most amazing passages in the Bible. After listing all the bad stuff Paul endured with beatings, lack of recognition and honour, he tells us of how he had a pride problem and had to be given a thorn in the flesh 14 years earlier. God knew all the bad stuff Paul was in for, but apparently, this was not sufficient to keep Paul humble! "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody." 2 Corinthians 12:7-11
Paul was the New Testament counterpart to Moses. Paul and Moses both lived lives of luxury before God put them into service. Paul wrote 1/2 the New Testament, Moes wrote the first 5 and most important books of the law. Moses endured persecutions and slanders and endured hardship just like Paul, but not to the same degree. Paul stands out.
Paul must have seen and heard something pretty big in heaven that he needed a "thorn" plus all the hardships and persecutions he was to endure.
Given the choice of dying and going to heaven or living with beatings and persecution, Paul chose to live and serve his fellow Christians: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again." Philippians 1:21-26

So you think your life is tough?

	Corinthians	Paul
Who they really were before they became Christians	A notoriously immoral society: "corinthisize". They had every reason to view themselves as trailer trash!	Paul had impeccable Hebrew tradition, perfect pedigree, highest educational credentials, highly respected, highest honor and fame
How they lived before being Christians	The Corinthians were wealthy and lived the good life.	Paul live the rich man's life best food, best clothing, best housing
Image of self	Too good to rebuke open sin. It would tarnish their perfect reputation! superior. High self esteem!	worthless
how they lived after being Christians	become rich, become kings	condemned to death, fools, without honor, hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless, toil, working with our own hands, reviled, persecuted, slandered, scum of the world, dregs of all things, in danger every hour, afflicted in every way. perplexed, persecuted, struck down, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, constantly being delivered over to death, afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, dishonor, evil reports, regarded as deceivers, unknown [a nobody], dying, punished, sorrowful, poor, having nothing, labors, imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep, dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches, thorn in the flesh, weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, difficulties foolish, lack of respect, a nobody
Example for us?	Bad example!	Happy, joy, peace, contentment. sings in jail after being beaten. Acts 16. "be imitators of me"

M. Happiness & Selfless love are unconditional:

Paul is an excellent example of selfless love that is unconditional, in spite of being mistreated: ""If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." Luke 6:32
Paul felt unappreciated, and was attacked and mistreated by others, this should not affect a persons overall happiness. Paul remained happy and joyfilled throughout his persecutions.
People commit suicide because they say, "I deserve better than this. I am worth more than I am getting. People are undervaluing me. Nobody cares for me, when they should be caring for me because I am important. I will retaliate and hurt them all by killing myself. I will make them regret not paying me more attention and making my life better."

N. The "low self-esteem" in hymns:

"Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
"Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me"

O. Psychiatry and the origin of "self-ism"

The idea that good mental health is founded upon a positive self esteem is so widespread, that it is considered a truth like the law of gravity! In fact the opposite is true: high self esteem is a trigger for mental illness and narcissism is almost always present in all mentally ill people.
The historic origins of the positive self esteem movement came directly from the world of pagan, atheistic, humanistic, evolutionary psychiatry: William James; 1890-Self Love. Erich Fromin; Unconditional Love. Abraham Maslow; Self-Actualism. Carl Rogers; Non-Judgmental, Self Help.
The origin of "selfism" is seen in the humanistic and naturalistic effort to make guilty people feel better. It is entirely inappropriate to try to relieve this suffering apart from repentance and God's plan for forgiveness. God intends for sinners to be appropriately miserable in order to motivate them toward repentance (conscience). Since all have sinned, this is pervasive condition of humankind, the very problem Christ came to solve, Matt.11:28-30. Cf "Rest unto your souls," and "Cure of souls". Understandably, has become tremendously popular movement.
Psychiatry offers freedom from misery without humiliating confession of sin! "You are not bad or guilty; you are good person". Must eliminate "negative thinking" and learn to love self, improve self-image. Who doesn't like to hear, "You are great, good, lovable, etc."
Shockingly many "Evangelicals" jumped on the bandwagon (Robert Shuler; "New Reformation").
It is an expression of our natural tendency to pride and selfishness. The claimed distinction between self-love & selfishness is false, since they are one and the same thing.
Remember Harris and Reynold's statement: "When your teen comes home from a therapy session, you may notice attitudinal changes. Your youngster will be developing greater self-esteem, improving confidence, and becoming more assertive and expressive." Self-esteem has become embellished to the point where lack of it is generally accepted as one of the major causes of personal and social problems, which must be directly addressed before people will change or social problems can be solved. As one psychologist wrote: "every theory of mental health considers a positive self-concept to be the cornerstone of a healthy ego" (Manufacturing Victims, Dr. Tana Dineen, 2001, p 171)
"Brooke Shields who is the spokesperson for Tupperware's 'Chain of Confidence SMART Girls campaign', a program that teaches girls to nurture their mental and physical well-being, has one other hope for her children: that they have high self-esteem." (Cookie Magazine interview by Jennifer Tung) Of course teaching any children to have high self esteem, is a terrible and damaging thing to do! It produces selfish, narcissistic, egotistic, arrogant adults and are only concerned about themselves and not others! This whole psychobabble about having a "healthy positive self image" is popular today. You wouldn't want to marry one of the "high self esteem" girls when they grow up!
Chemical psychiatry has it all wrong. Anorexia is caused by girls who have high self esteem, not low. The girl is not content to look average or below average, she feels she wants to look better than she currently looks. She has a high self image that drives her to bring her personal appearance up to her high standards. "What are the causes of anorexia nervosa? ... Certain personality traits common in persons with anorexia nervosa are low self-esteem". (Anorexia Nervosa, NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Barbara Wolfe, RN, PhD, FAAN June 2003)

P. Psychiatric "self-ism" has infected the Lord's church!

If you have heard the preacher do a lesson on how we all need to have a positive self image and good self esteem, you have been infected with paganism! Here is your inoculation shot from the Bible: 2 Timothy 3:1-2; Philippians 2:3-5; Romans 12:3,16; Luke 17:10; Luke 18:9-14. Read it three times a day for ten days.
There is no command in the Bible that says that you should love yourself! Why should it? Love is an action and we already take care of ourselves just fine! When the Bible says that we should love our neighbour as we are already loving ourselves it is rather obvious that the passage never questions that everyone is doing a great job at loving themselves.
In the Lord's church we quote 1 Peter 3:21 to people to reject they must be baptized to be saved. We quote Jas 2:24 to people who believe we are saved by faith only. If you believe it is important to have a positive self image and a high self esteem, I am quoting "in the last days men will be lovers of self" 2 Timothy 3:1-2.
Challenge to the Lord's church: Find any verse that says: 1. We are worth something to God. 2. We are valuable to God. 3. We are precious to God. 4. We should have a positive self image. 5. We should have a high self esteem. 6. We are worth something as Christians. Email the verse to: Click here.
Some deluded Christians are actually teaching that you cannot love others and God if you do not love yourself. But who doesn't love themselves? Sure they may not like their appearance, but that does not mean they don't love themselves! Some deluded Christians teach that if you do not love yourselves, you are exempt from loving others and God. The passage is really saying that we should love others the way we would want to be loved by them, not how we love ourselves! The command to love others is not conditional upon how we love ourselves. It is merely drawing a general parallel that is true in 99% of the population. For that 1% who don't love themselves, the Bible verse says: Love others anyways! Love others in spite of the fact that you do not love yourself. In this way the command to love others is truly unconditional.
Even if we really do not love ourselves, we still are aware of the difference between loving ourselves and not loving ourselves. We still know how to love ourselves, we just won't do it. So even if we do not love ourselves, we still know exactly how to love others!
Who doesn't love their own body? Even if we are fat and ugly, we still give our bodies first rate care! "So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;" Ephesians 5:28 Imagine someone saying: "I don't like my appearance, therefore I am exempt from loving my wife. Sorry honey! We all understand that the command to love our wives is unconditional! Generally speaking everyone loves their own bodies by caring for it. The Bible command says to those few who physically mistreat their bodies: Love your wife in spite of how you mistreat your body!
Notice that high self-esteem caused the church to tolerate sin: "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst." 1 Corinthians 5:1-2

Q. "Eeyore Syndrome: High Self-esteem anxiety disorder"

(Addition to the DSM-5 is patent pending)

Through research, we have discovered a new mental illness that we are requesting be added to the DSM-5 as a new disorder: We call it the "high self-esteem anxiety disorder" and we are applying for a trademark patent. Anyone expect psychiatrists are free to use it without trademark violation as long as they give credit to www.bible.ca.
We are the pioneers of this new psychiatric disorder that we are requesting be added to the DSM-5. With hundreds of new illnesses being added with each version of the DSM (1I, II, III, IV) We feel that version DSM-5 should list this!
Clinical information: "high self-esteem anxiety disorder" is when people loose sleep because they are not living a standard of living as high as they think deserve or getting the respect they feel others owe them! Etiology: High self esteem. Symptoms: anxious, depressed, sad, conversion to or from "the Eeyore Syndrome", the "woe is me disorder". Cure: Deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, start following Christ and start to serve others.
Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, is a perfect example of high self esteem. Eeyore went around depressed, miserable, unhappy all the time. Why? Several reasons: 1. Eeyore wanted others to tell him how good he was. He was trolling on the waters of self pity for a compliment! 2. Eeyore wasn't getting as much as he felt he deserved. Its is like the child who pouts that he did not get as good a toy for his birthday as he was expecting! Rather than be happy with anything he gets, he is afflicted with the Eeyore Syndrome and starts feeling sorry for himself for no good reason.
Many people get depressed because they are poor with few material possessions. The reason they get depressed is because they feel they deserve more than what they presently have. They fell they are worth more than their present standard of living. This is totally sinful and contrary to scripture.
"If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content." 1 Timothy 6:8
"But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."" Luke 10:40-42
"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34

R. A closer look at Eeyore.

Diagnosed with F41.7
"High self-esteem anxiety disorder"

	Above Average	Below Average
Leadership ability	70%	2%
Athletic ability	60%	6%
Ability to get along with others	60% in top 10% 25% in top 1%	0%
David G. Myers, "The Inflated Self", p 23-24