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You may immediately reject this and argue, “How could I worship ‘self’? I feel bad about myself and have a bad self-image!”
To this I counter whenever you are limited to your “self-image,” self becomes your master. I want to challenge this deception: If only I could feel good about myself, then I’d be fulfilled.
God doesn’t want us fulfilled through the avenue of self...He wants us fulfilled in Him. The Word of God is not set up to make us feel good about ourselves...it is set up to reveal a “good” God. In order to feel good about yourself you have to be good,and no one is good but God. Even Jesus wouldn’t assign the adjective of good to Himself.
“Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.”
—Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19, NIV
He wasn’t looking to be labeled as “good” by human standards; His goal was to glorify His heavenly Father, the very essence of good.
Jesus, the very Son of God, did not desire equality with God by calling Himself good. God alone is good, and through His goodness we are restored and He is glorified.
I want to address self-image on two levels: first, on a personal level, and second, on a spiritual level. Self-image is not something we’re born with. It is forged through pain, pressure and praise.
Pain causes us to become aware of something previously unnoticed. After my first child I had back problems. Until then I never even noticed my back, but pain brought it to the forefront.
Pressure brings hidden things (good and bad) to the surface. Our world has created competitions that pit each of us against each other so the talents and abilities, or lack thereof, can be contrasted.
Praise tests what you are made of. The Bible tells us that a person is tested by the praise he receives —Prov. 27:21.
These processes cause us to be aware of our “selves,” or self-conscious. It is a collective number of occurrences that raises our awareness of what was previously not noticed.
My youngest son is beautiful, yet he is totally unaware of the concept of beauty. This unawareness makes him that much more attractive, because his goal is not to be attractive, but to be expressive. He wants to give and receive love, and he comes looking for it each morning with his announcement, “It’s time for morning love!” He doesn’t care what color his eyes are. He just knows he is loved and to whom he belongs, and that is enough for him.
He’s free—and I see it in his pictures and hear it in the animated tone of his voice. He holds my face between his two soft hands and looks at me face to face. He wants me right up close to know he has my full attention. He looks me intently in the eyes until I return his gaze, then he kisses me. He needs the closeness; in it we both lose an awareness of ourselves, and there is only love.
This is what God wants with us. For us to be so totally caught up in Him that we lose consciousness of ourselves. He doesn’t want to draw us close to inspect our flaws; He wants to captivate us with His love.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
—John 8:32, NIV
To know something is to be intimately acquainted with it. Knowing is more than a mere acknowledgment of existence. It is a relationship. This is when and where truth becomes a part of us.
We need to know the truth with a deeper intimacy and to a greater degree than we’ve known the lie. We’ve lived the lie and it has captivated us, but if we live the truth it will liberate us. To know truth is to live truth. It is the truth you live in that sets you free. It penetrates deeper and reaches further than the lie, dispelling by its light any darkness lurking in the remote areas of our soul. Knowledge of truth alone will not be enough. We need relationship with truth. The question changes from “What is the truth?”to “Who is the Truth?” because relationships are not formed between “what” but “who.”
So Who is this Truth?
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life…”
—John 14:6, NIV
He is the way we seek. He is the truth that sets us free from the confines of ourselves. He offers each of us the life we long for. You may now be questioning what I say: “I know Him, but I don’t feel free. I feel captive!” He allows this captivity to serve as an invitation to experience Him on a deeper level. He is drawing you closer to His side. He wants to be the Lord of our lives, our companion and friend, as we journey from captivity to freedom. He doesn’t want you to try it with your own strength and fail. He wants to be your strength, but it requires a deeper level of surrender by yielding all of your strength and will to Him.
God offers these truths on a “whosoever will” basis. Even though this cost the very life of His Son, He freely and generously calls to all with an ear to hear:
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
—Isaiah 55:1, NIV
This verse seems to contradict itself. How can one buy without cost? This purchase is costly because it requires an admission of our own inability to provide. It is a call to humility and dependence. God continues:
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
—Isaiah 55:2–3, NIV
He questions them, “Why do you spend your money, your time, yourself, on that which will never satisfy you? Your thirst is not quenched, your hunger is not abated, and your achievements are unsatisfying ” When we have spent all of ourselves--our natural strength, resources, talents and provisions--God invites us to come to Him empty-handed. He does not want our money or labor...He wants empty lives. In exchange for our surrender, He gives us life, an everlasting covenant, and unwaveringly faithful love.
We must remember we cannot come to Him in the strengths of our own merits. We must strip ourselves from the lies of this world and embrace His truth. Only then will we have a Godly perspective on ourselves and who we are, and we will have true fulfillment and satisfaction in Him.
This is adapted from Lisa Bevere’s book, You Are Not What You Weigh.
Passionate. Edgy. Relatable. Powerful. Funny. These words describe Lisa Bevere, an international speaker, bestselling author, and co-host of “The Messenger” TV program, which broadcasts in over 200 nations. In her transparent style, Lisa shares the Word of God woven with personal experiences to empower lives with freedom and transformation. Her heart breaks over social injustice, and as an advocate for change she rallies others to be an answer to desperate world problems. Lisa enjoys living life in Colorado Springs along with her husband, author and speaker John Bevere, and their four sons— Addison, Austin, Alec and Arden.
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