I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. Ps 139:14
Its not often that I wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say “I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” I have found over the years that the tension between arrogance and self-confidence has been somewhat skewed, and many today replace boldness for self-righteousness, confidence for arrogance, and a healthy self esteem with a hunger for winning. On the flip side, low self esteem and a desperate lack of confidence are on the rise. It springs from not knowing your true value and where it comes from. We strive for perfection, performance, reputation, popularity, comedy, acceptability and more, thinking that they are the gauge and setter of our value. Our value doesn’t originate in us, it is not generated by us or anything we do, there is nothing we can do to increase it or devalue it… Our value is founded in our creation and creator, it is set by the eternal rock and Father of all. It is not based on our performance, on our achievements, or on our popularity…
There is no need for either arrogance or self loathing – both misunderstand that our value is generated by God the father, who made us marvellously and wonderfully…
Once we understand where our true value is generated from and held by, it gives us the freedom to humbly be ourselves… Free from the labels and words spoken over us by others, free from the pressure of perfection and performance, free from having to measure up to someones idea of success. We can be truly confident because God created us, Jesus died for us, and the Holy Spirit now helps us. I recently heard a message spoken by Erwin McManus, He said, “Your talent is a gift to you, not from you”. GOLD. Knowing your true value relieves both sides of the confidence fence – arrogance and low self esteem. You are here on purpose, for a purpose… You are valued and loved, so don’t allow yourself to be pumped up with pride – your value comes God… and don’t let yourself be shrunk by low self-esteem – your value comes from God. Live knowing your value comes from Him.
