What’s a better goal to shoot for in life:  higher or lower self-esteem? We’ll get back to that in a moment. First, some facts about the origin of “self-esteem”. The following are all excerpts from a lengthy Wikipedia article titled, Self-esteem.

Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities; self-respect. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) defined it by saying "The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it.”
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The concept of self-esteem has its origins in the 18th century, first expressed in the writings of the Scottish enlightenment thinker David Hume. Hume posits that it is important to value and think well of oneself because it serves a motivational function that enables people to explore their full potential.

The identification of self-esteem as a distinct psychological construct has its origins in the work of philosopher, psychologist, geologist, and anthropologist William James (1892).
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Carl Rogers (1902–1987), an advocate of humanistic psychology, theorized the origin of many people's problems to be that they despise themselves and consider themselves worthless and incapable of being loved. This is why Rogers believed in the importance of giving unconditional acceptance to a client and when this was done it could improve the client's self-esteem. In his therapy sessions with clients, he offered positive regard no matter what. Indeed, the concept of self-esteem is approached since then in humanistic psychology as an inalienable right for every person, summarized in the following sentence:

Every human being, with no exception, for the mere fact to be it, is worthy of unconditional respect of everybody else; he deserves to esteem himself and to be esteemed.
-Self-esteem, Wikipedia.com


OK, enough of the history lesson. I hope you get the point, from a psychological perspective. This worldly concept of self-esteem is relatively new to humankind. Here’s a biblical account regarding the genesis of so-called self-esteem:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
-Genesis 3:6-8

What happened in the Garden that caused man to begin wrestling with self-esteem, self-worth, self-evaluation, etc.? Something cataclysmic happened, that’s for sure. As the story goes, this eye-opening experience immediately resulted in a pain so great that man did everything in his fleshly power to avoid it, blaming others for their pain and when that failed, even creatures and circumstances. Preserving one’s self-esteem was at the root of a never-ending series of sins which continues to this day!

When man turned his eyes from outward (towards God) to inward (towards self), he became a miserable wretch. And yet, if you understand mainstream psychology, that is exactly what is prescribed. To this day no one has ever found relief in this “remedy”; rather, it is the source of increased and prolonged pain. The world encourages its own to search to exhaustion for that spark of hope that you are, indeed, a good person – you and the rest of the world just need to find a good reason to believe it. That is a fool’s errand from the pit of Hell, according to Holy Scripture.

You have to make a choice:  self-esteem or Christ-esteem.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
-Galatians 2:20

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
-Colossians 3:1-10

Paul commanded that we believers “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (v5) and “put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” (v8). This seems like a pretty long list of to-dos, doesn’t it? I mean, you could spend all day just trying to make sure that you don’t violate any one of these conditions, right? Is there a more efficient way to approach this? Yes.

Turning away from evil is as simple as turning from focus on self (e.g., working on or defending your self-esteem) to focus on Christ (e.g., seeking Christ-esteem).

Let’s put this to the test. What is “sexual immorality” if it isn’t a quest to make you feel better about yourself, as in “Someone finds me desirable”? What are “impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness” if not parts of the same vein of insecurity? You see, a self-focused person is an insecure person who is always searching for new ways to numb the pain, even if only temporarily. What about “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk”? Well, if you consider that the easiest way to agitate the human flesh is to put it down, then the list falls neatly into place. You’re angry at someone because they threatened your self-esteem, so wrath percolates up and manufactures malice and slander which manifests obscene talk. All of this because your pride in self was wounded!

Pride is nothing more than self-esteem on steroids. Pride kills anything good: love, relationships, health, you name it. Give that some thought.

Why not just keep it simple? Whenever you’re tempted to defend your self-esteem, stop immediately and say to yourself, “I already know that my fleshly ‘self’ is wretched, so I’m not going to be enticed into this evil exercise of defending it. That always ends badly. Instead, I’ll focus on Christ, the fact that He lives in me, and that He loves me just the way I am.” Do this and the list of commands Paul wrote of in Colossians 3:5,8 will become much easier to obey because you’ll have turned your back on self-esteem altogether (the temptations will no longer be in view). You’ll be set free from a world of lies.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
-Galatians 5:1

Let’s answer the opening question now. What’s a better goal to shoot for in life:  higher or lower self-esteem? The answer ought to be obvious at this point - lower is better. Turn away from the mainstream concept of self-esteem – it’s a death-trap. Turn towards Christ and you will have, in effect, turned your back on the bondage of pride.

How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
-Proverbs 16:16-20

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins