Day 3: How to Build Your Self-Esteem

"I have loved you with an everlasting love." Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

After four hundred years of living as slaves in Egypt, the Israelites struggled with low self-esteem. So, God said to them, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt" (vv. 3-4 NKJV). Notice the words "built" and "rebuilt." How can you build, or rebuild, your self-esteem? In three ways: First, by believing in God's unearned, undeserved, unchanging, unfailing love for you at all times. Second, by serving and giving to others. When you have been victimized in the past, you tend to focus unduly on yourself. It's not that you want to be selfish, it's just what you feel you must do in order to survive. Yet, the opposite is true. Helping someone-even making a small difference-lifts your self-esteem. It's difficult to harbor bad feelings about yourself when you're doing something good for someone else. On top of that, adding value to another's life causes that person to value you more. It creates a cycle of positive feelings from one person to another. Third, doing the right thing, even when it's the hard thing. Being true to yourself and your values is a remarkable self-esteem builder. Each time you do something that builds your character, you become a stronger person-the more difficult the task, the greater the character builder. You can actually "act yourself" into feeling good about yourself, because positive character enlarges into each area of your life, providing you with confidence and positive feelings about all you do.