- Oct 31, 2012
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Is self esteem important? If so, why?
How do we get our self esteem?
It seems to me that there are two possible sources for self esteem
1. Looking inward.
2. Looking outward
Let's consider the first approach. I have watched a few Disney films an they all seem to give the same message. The message is, your value is hidden on the inside. All you need to do is look inward to find it.
However, consider this. Self esteem is the highest among criminals behind bars. They obviously have found all of their self worth from within. After all, society has utterly rejected them.
Prisoners have higher self-esteem than community members
It seems that the higher the self esteem, the higher the narcissism.
However, if we took the later approach, that self esteem is cultivated from the outside, then Barak Obama must be God's gift to humanity with his Nobel Peace Prize and someone like me who has been critical of him, according from comments from posters on this site, I'm the dung of the earth.
That simply seems absurd as well. We all know politics suck. We all have been on the team where all the players got an award of some kind, many of whom did not deserve them. We also know that many of our bosses, if not all, have no idea who does the most and who is worth the most as incompetent in their jobs are promoted and others are not.
Because human beings are so subjective and/or ignorant, human praise and condemnation seems rather hollow to me.
As for myself, I look upward.
What do we learn from the scriptures?
1. We are created in the image of God. What this means is that human beings are special. In a sense, we are like a very expensive sports car that has crashed into a tree, but we are exquisite from the back end nonetheless. You might call us a glorious ruin.
2. We are all sinners. Being a wreck should humble us, but often does not. We should give glory to the one who made us but realize that we are completely dependent of God restoring us, or we will have no real value ever again.
How do we get our self esteem?
It seems to me that there are two possible sources for self esteem
1. Looking inward.
2. Looking outward
Let's consider the first approach. I have watched a few Disney films an they all seem to give the same message. The message is, your value is hidden on the inside. All you need to do is look inward to find it.
However, consider this. Self esteem is the highest among criminals behind bars. They obviously have found all of their self worth from within. After all, society has utterly rejected them.
Prisoners have higher self-esteem than community members
It seems that the higher the self esteem, the higher the narcissism.
However, if we took the later approach, that self esteem is cultivated from the outside, then Barak Obama must be God's gift to humanity with his Nobel Peace Prize and someone like me who has been critical of him, according from comments from posters on this site, I'm the dung of the earth.
That simply seems absurd as well. We all know politics suck. We all have been on the team where all the players got an award of some kind, many of whom did not deserve them. We also know that many of our bosses, if not all, have no idea who does the most and who is worth the most as incompetent in their jobs are promoted and others are not.
Because human beings are so subjective and/or ignorant, human praise and condemnation seems rather hollow to me.
As for myself, I look upward.
What do we learn from the scriptures?
1. We are created in the image of God. What this means is that human beings are special. In a sense, we are like a very expensive sports car that has crashed into a tree, but we are exquisite from the back end nonetheless. You might call us a glorious ruin.
2. We are all sinners. Being a wreck should humble us, but often does not. We should give glory to the one who made us but realize that we are completely dependent of God restoring us, or we will have no real value ever again.
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