The apostle Paul said to Timothy: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful. Self-esteem means “Being proud of oneself”. These days, people say that it’s an ability to promote and address oneself well to the public because we are living in the age of self-promotion. But an excessive level of self-esteem can cause you to fall into self-righteousness.
A person of self-esteem likes showing off him or herself without caring about others’ recognition. That kind of person often says, “I” for every work, having a mindset that “Whom in the world can I trust?”, “You have to trust in me. Do just as much as I do.”. Then, outwardly, the person says, “I cannot do anything.”, pretending to be humble.
We will make a loss or gain benefit depending on what kind of person I am before God. When you boast that you can do it by yourself, you don’t’ have a reason you will get help from God. A man of self-esteem definitely can make a loss instead of getting help from God. On the contrary to this, God will help you when you confess that you can’t live without the Lord.
Peter thought he will never disown Jesus whom he loved. But he found himself cowardly and weak after he heard the rooster crowing. At that moment, his self-esteem collapsed.
I could realize that the pride of humans is weak and worthless seeing that Peter who once determined not to disown Jesus and was ready to die ended up betraying Jesus in an instant.
We need to live a Christian life with meek hearts giving thanks for the grace of God every day, not boasting that we can do anything by ourselves.
There’s no reason to be boast so we should acknowledge Jesus and rely on Him only.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #705
