STRUGGLING WITH SELF-IMAGE

EPHESIANS 1: 1-12

STRUGGLING WITH YOUR SELF-IMAGE

This last week in the Clarion Ledger there was as story on the highs and lows of self-esteem. They reported on a study of 35,000 people that suggests that our sense of self-worth rises and falls as we go through life’s stages. The two stages of life that are especially prone to low self-images are the teenage years and the retirement years. Teens suffer from the changes that occur in their lives that they think are going to ruin them for life. Retirees suffer from going from being in charge of many things to being in charge of very little! There are also many who suffer from a life-long problem with their self-image. Do you suffer from this?

The world tries their best to give a way out of this depressing state of life. Let me clue you in. It won’t work! Only believers in Jesus Christ can overcome this. We see this in the phrase: “believers in Jesus Christ.” Let’s look closer.

I. KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT RESULTS OF BEING IN CHRIST.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Truth is truth whether you know it or not, but it can’t help you if you don’t know it is the truth. If you are a true believer and have a bad self-image, then your problem is that you don’t know the real truth about what happened when you believed in Christ. You do not comprehend the riches that are within you because Jesus is in you. You’re riding in second class when you have a first class ticket.

In the opening of this letter Paul speaks to the “saints” and those “without blame.” Saints are those who, “have been restored to their original function in life and put to proper use on earth.” Blameless does not mean sinless, but about doing all one can to make something right. We did that by trusting in Jesus to save us from our sin. So Paul is very careful to qualify that he is speaking to all believers.

A. IN CHRIST WE ARE SUFFICIENT. (VERSE 3) If you are always afraid that you are going to fail, then you can stop today! Why? Your success or failure does not depend on you, but on your God’s ability to help you. Notice Paul says that God already HAS blessed us with every spiritual blessing we need!

Suppose someone made a secret deposit of $10,000,000 in your banking account. If you did not know about that deposit, you would never be able to use any of that money. But imagine whenever you got around to checking your bank statement. What would you do when you found out? I mean after you fainted, what would you do? You would start spending.

God has deposited to our spiritual accounts EVERYTHING we need to live the Christian life free from self-doubt and fear of failure. He has gifted us with all the love, patience, courage, wisdom, faith and strength that we will need forever. He is gracious and will never ask anything that He has not already given us.

B. IN CHRIST WE ARE SIGNIFICANT. (VERSES 4-12) As a believer you are an important person. How do I know? First, I know this because God chose you for His child before the world was ever made! Think about the explosion of effect of that statement with me. God loves you. He has accepted you based on what Christ has done in you. There is nothing you can do for God to love you more. There is nothing you can do for God to love you less. God didn’t change you so that He could love you. He loves you in order to change you. Surrender to His love and rest in it. Let Him reveal your importance to Him.

Second, I know that you are an important person because Christ died on the cross for you. On the cross He paid the penalty for our sin. He died to put to death our old, sinful self. He died to forgive us, but also to enable us to receive His life into us. You know that you matter because Christ loved you that much. Through the cross God chose to adopt us as His children. You make a difference to Him.

Until we know our true position in Christ, we will never overcome a bad self-image. It’s like an experiment that a marine biologist ran with a northern pike in an aquarium. He put a lot of minnows in the aquarium with the fish. The fish gorged himself on them. Then a glass cylinder was dropped into the tank, and the minnows were put inside the cylinder. The pike kept trying to reach the minnows in the cylinder and finally gave up. Then the biologist released all the minnows into the aquarium. They swam right past the mouth of the pike, and he never made a move for them. The fish starved with all that food around him. Why? He had become a slave to false perception!

Some of you have become a slave to the false perception that you can do nothing and you are nothing. Satan has been programmed you to think this way. That’s why you are miserable in your bad self-image. God wants to set you free with the truths of this passage. If you are “in Christ” these words are directly from God to you! Listen to them. Be set free! You are significant, sufficient and secure because of your position in Christ, but it takes more than knowing these facts. We must base our approach to life everyday with a faith in this position in life for us.

III. BELIEVE THE TRUTH ABOUT RESULTS OF BEING IN CHRIST.

God doesn’t want believers to have a problem with their self-image. He knows it will hurt you and all those around you. People who like themselves are usually people who like everyone else. Those who are down on themselves are usually down on everyone else. Is it not true in your experience?

God has a plan to relieve, but you will have to stop seeking the approval of man for your self-image. You will have to stop getting your self-worth from where you work or what you do for a living. You will have to stop getting your self-worth from being the center of everyone’s attention. You will have to find all of these in your personal relationship with Christ.

There is one word I want us to focus on to help you overcome your self-image problem-GRACE! Many times we think we are good Christians only when we do good! That is a legalistic approach to the Christian life. You will always be an important person to God. It is not because of you or what you do, but it’s all because of God’s GRACE. Rehearse who you are in Christ on a regular basis and you will never have a self-image problem again! You are sufficient and significant because of Christ in your life.

The second thing that will help is for you to get involved in a meaningful service for Him. This is why the Bible is chocked full of commands for us to serve others in the name of Jesus! When we really believe that we are sufficient to do the work of God and jump out there and do it, this is one of the best medicines for a bad self-image there is. It causes us to get our focus off ourselves and onto others and to God. It will cause you to see that God’s Word is true in your life.

CONCLUSION

If you would know and believe this truth of God you could start a chain of acceptance in your life. Adrian Rogers does a great job of explaining the chain:

-God has accepted me through the death and resurrection of Jesus, His son. That is grace.

-By faith I accept the fact that he accepts me. That is faith. Faith is my acceptance of God’s acceptance of me.

-I then am able to accept myself. That is peace.

-Because of all the foregoing, I am then free to accept you. That is love. I am free give, and I can relate to you in love because there is plenty where that came from.

--Finally you can accept me. I am no longer grasping at you, trying to manipulate you, trying to use you. Your acceptance of me is koinonia, fellowship.

The question for today is, “Do you want to rid yourself of your bad self-image?” Could it be that you have come to enjoy playing the role of a martyr who is less than perfect? If you want to, God will bring you out-today. So bow your head today and repent for the sin of allowing yourself to have a bad self-image. Ask God to know and believe in who you are in Christ. Ask God to help you live your life from this day forward based on His truth.

Ridgecrest Baptist Church | 7469 Old Canton Rd. | Madison, MS 39110 phone: 601.853.1090 fax: 601.853.1092