Purity 326: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 326 01/27/2021

Good morning!

Today’s photo comes from SUNY Oswego as they recently updated their FB profile cover with this wintery yet bright view of the campus on the shores of Lake Ontario.   I love the contrast of cold and brightness as the scene glistens with snow that is illuminated by the sun as it makes its way through the heavens.  

My turbulent times on campus certainly had their short- and long-term consequences but I fondly remember those days, now 30 years ago, when I had my first experiences of raw independence and began my educational journey with a real desire to expand my horizons and seek that which was best in life.  

 Through all my ups and downs, my wild days, and my mad existence I never lost that curious nature that questioned the world around me and sought to know the truth and how I could live it.  

 I encourage my friends to never stop learning as our years on this earth are our opportunity to find the meaning and purpose of life and to engage the world around us with love. 

 Seek the truth and you will know Him, and your life can be filled with the fruit that come from living in His magnificent grace.

This morning’s meditation verses are:

Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV)
¹² Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

 I love the contrast that comes through the teachings in the Book of Proverbs. The verses often state a truth and then couple it with its opposite to more effectively teach the truth that God is attempting to convey. 

 In this case “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” sounds absolutely horrible and each one of us can attest how our experience can bear testimony of its truth.  Have you ever hoped for something, but it was delayed or, even worse, never came to pass? We had set our hearts on a certain outcome and when it was delayed our hearts sank and we were filled with anger or dread for being disappointed.  

 But oh, “when the desire comes, it is a tree of life”! When we actually receive what we hope for we are filled with joy!  

 That first part of this verse may tempt you to not hope at all because we don’t want our hearts to be “sick”.   But the next part tells us that we are to hope and are to rejoice when that which we hope for makes its way to us. 

 Our hopes are our purpose for life.  If our hopes are righteous and pure, and not tainted by selfish lusts, we pursue a good thing.

 When we come into harmony with God, we have a great thing: our relationship with Him, and if that is the case, He may just move all things for your good.   

 So don’t give up hope. Keep going. Pray for it. Work for it.  But always remember your best hope is only realized with a relationship to God through your faith in Jesus Christ. 

 Today we will begin to share from Dr. June Hunt’s Biblical Counseling Keys on “Self-Worth: Discovering Your God-given Worth”.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Hunt’s books for your own private study and to support her work:

What happens when you long to receive a gift, but only your sister is given a gift? What happens when you long to be held on your mother's lap, but only your sister is allowed on her lap? What happens when you long for your mother's love, but only your sister is given her love?

Ask Dorie Van Stone. Dorie would tell you that repeated rejection is the breeding ground for low self-worth. Her own mother never even wanted her ... her own mother always called her "ugly."

Dorie never received the love and affection her heart so deeply craved.

However, what a comfort for Dorie (and for all the Dories in the world ... both male and female) to come to know this truth ...

"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
(1 Samuel 16:7)

I. Definitions

Why should Dorie feel any sense of worth? Even before she and her sister were discarded at an orphanage, life with their mother was filled with rejection. Her mother would leave Dorie in charge of her little sister, Marie, for hours — a 6-year-old responsible for the total care of a 5-year-old! Each time, she longed desperately for her mother to return, saying to herself, "I hope she'll be glad to see me." But each time her mother returned, she brushed right past Dorie to gather Marie into her arms and give her a great big hug — sometimes bringing a gift — always showering attention ... attention never shown to Dorie. No wonder Dorie was left reeling with low self-worth. As the psalmist said ...

"Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none."
(Psalm 69:20)

A. What Is Self-Worth?

As a child, Dorie didn't have any concept of "self-worth." How could she? As a continually rejected child, how could she feel any sense of significance ... of value ... of worth? Even more basic than that, how do you determine the worth of something or someone? How do you know your own worth? Do you look to yourself or others in order to grasp your value? If you look anywhere other than to God — the God who created you with a purpose and a plan — your view of your own value is in grave danger of being distorted. Before you were ever, God established your real worth by knowing you, by choosing you, and ultimately by dying for you! The Bible says ...

"He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight."
(Ephesians 1:4)

• Worth signifies the value, merit, or significance of a person or thing.
• Self-worth is the belief that your life has value and significance.
• Worth is a translation of the Greek word axios, which means "of weight and worth." In biblical times, gold and other precious metals were placed on a balancing scale where their worth was determined by their weight, leading to the expression ...

"...worth their weight in gold"
(Lamentations 4:2)

Determining Self-Worth

Question: "How can someone's worth be determined?"

Answer: At an auction, the worth of an item is determined clearly and simply by one thing ... the highest price paid. Each item goes to the highest bidder. You were bought from the auction block of sin over 2,000 years ago when the heavenly Father paid the highest price possible — the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. By that one act, your worth was forever established by God.

Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for you — willingly dying on the cross — paying the penalty for your sins. He loves you that much!

Your true worth is not based on anything you have done or will do, but on what Jesus has already done. Without a doubt, He established your worth. ... You were worth His life. ... You were worth dying for.

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).

 

B. What Is Self-Esteem?

In Dorie's younger years, not one person valued her ... no one found pleasure in her. Since no one esteemed her, she had no sense of self esteem. She could easily see which of the other children were treated with value and, as a result, felt valuable. Her sister was one of these highly favored ones.

What makes you feel good about yourself? Do you consider your opinions worthy of consideration? Do you expect others to respect your boundaries, or do you hold yourself in such low esteem that you do not establish and maintain healthy boundaries — boundaries that line up with God's purpose for your life? The Bible says ...

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
(Proverbs 4:23)

• To esteem means "to set a high value on."
• To esteem in Hebrew is sometimes translated from hasab, which means "to consider, plan, reckon, or think over."
• To have self-esteem is to respect or have high regard for yourself. ...

"He [Messiah] was despised and rejected. ... and we held him in low esteem."
(Isaiah 53:3)

Self-Esteem and Self-Worth

Question: "Why do some people prefer not to focus on self-esteem, but only on self-worth?"

Answer: The word self-esteem actually has two different meanings that are opposite to each other.

• The first is an objective regard of your value ... which the Bible refers to as humility. This self-worth is rooted in the recognition of your sins and your need for the Savior, recognition of your need to live dependently on Him, and recognition of the fact that Christ established your worth by dying for you. ...

"These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word" (Isaiah 66:2).

• The second kind of self-esteem is an exaggerated regard of your value ... which the Bible refers to as pride. This self-esteem is rooted in the idea that you are "good enough" within yourself to meet your own needs and, therefore, you do not need to live dependently on the Savior. Your worth is established by your "inherent goodness" and "personal accomplishments." But the Bible says ...

"Do not be arrogant. ... Do not be proud. ... Do not be conceited" (Romans 11:20; 12:16).

In the Bible, God presents these two types of "self-esteem" in sharp contrast to one another. ...

"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."
(1 Peter 5:5)

Biblical Counseling Keys - Biblical Counseling Keys – Biblical Counseling Keys: Self-Worth: Discover Your God-Given Worth.

-----------------------------more tomorrow--------------------------

 

God bless you all!