Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is having confidence in one's self, knowing your self-worth and your abilities. Self-esteem is to understand yourself, having self-respect for yourself, and understand self-importance. It is used to characterize one's sense of personal value. It can include different beliefs about one's self.

Self-esteem is critical for living your best life!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well."

- Psalm 139:13–14

"Love yourself enough to take the actions required for your happiness. Enough to cut yourself loose from the drama-filled past. Enough to set a high standard for relationships. Enough to feed your mind and body in a healthy manner. Enough to forgive yourself. Enough to move on."

- Steve Maraboli.

Self-esteem plays a significant part in our day-to-day lives. High self-esteem motivates and encourages you to do what you put your mind to and guarantees success throughout life. When we have healthy self-esteem, we feel optimistic about ourselves, our well-being, and life. Having healthy self-esteem also allows us to process life's ups and downs. When our self-esteem is low, we may see ourselves and life from an opposing point of view. Each day tell yourself that you can do what you put your mind to and that you are more than a conquer through Christ Jesus. You will find yourself closer to your goals and your dreams. Self-esteem helps you achieve that which is impossible to the human eye. I am reminded of one, in particular, bible verse. Every time trial comes, repeat this to yourself, "I can do ALL things through Christ Jesus, that is strengthening me." Philippians 4:13. You must always have a positive outlook on life and push past the limit of the "I can't" and "say I can." "The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself." - Michel de Montaigne.

The first step to building self-esteem is to believe in yourself and build your self-confidence. Self-belief is more important than intelligence, dreams, talent, goals, or people you put your trust in, or anything else on this God-given planet. People who have self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-belief believe in themselves and are healthier, happier, and appreciate themselves and others around them.

Second, do what you feel is best for your life and not what's best for others. Sometimes we get caught up in being people's pleasers until we find ourselves lacking comfort, energy, money, happiness, focus, time, needs, and wants. Know that you have a choice to say no and to be happy with saying no to live happily and be at peace with your decisions. By trying to please others all the time, you began to ignore your wishes, dreams, happiness, health, and desires. By doing this, you start to feel unimportant, unappreciated, undervalued, unwanted, or the feeling of being used. Make a mental note to yourself and understand that you cannot please everybody. The goal is to be a God-pleaser, not a man-pleaser, and to show the love of God in all that we do. When you find yourself pleasing the Abba Father, you will find yourself more pleasing unto yourself.

Thirdly, be the best version of yourself, but remember to accept that you have imperfections. Remind yourself that nobody is perfect, that we all make mistakes, learn to grow, be better and do better through the errors. Be yourself, set goals, don't worry, be happy, live life to its fullest, love yourself, make mistakes, grow from them, be optimistic, dream big, know that Abba loves you, and be successful in all that you do.

We must never forget to speak kindly to ourselves, be optimistic about the things we can change, and most definitely about the things we cannot change. Be proud of who you are, walk with confidence, and with your head held high. Love yourself, and know that you can love yourself better than anyone ever can. Positive self-talks and affirmations will generate positive thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and decision making.

Reflect: Understanding the importance of self-esteem/confidence is essential to understanding who you are. Focusing on what makes you great, what sets you apart from others, what makes you happy, and how you can achieve lifelong happiness. When you feel self-doubt intruding, replace them with a happy thought.