Self - Esteem: Looking Up Instead of Looking Inside

Last month, Mom's Matter was going to cover the topic of self-esteem
but the meeting was canceled because of bad weather.

This month the moms will receive a copy of the booklet Self Esteem.

I wanted to share  a couple of things I was planning to share in January.

Leslie Vernick "Instead of looking to God to tell us who we are, as fallen human beings we seek external sources to tell us who we are.  When we do that, instead of feeling secure and loved, we become self-concious, self-focused, self-centered, and self-absorbed."  (p. 7)

The booklet goes on to address two big ideas:
The six false voices we allow to define our value and worth
The one way we are truly changed.

As part of my message I was going to share a personal experience in which God used His Word to change my thinking from self-focused to God-focused.
Here are two blog posts where I shared this time.

Part 1:  God spoke to me today!
Part 2:  Blessed by a forgotten Bible reading!

Now I want to remind parents of an important very practical point.
We need to model this God-focused thinking to our children AND we need to help them think this way.

Here is a quote and some Bible verses to help parents do this and teach this...
"How God thinks of us is not only more important [than how we think of him], but infinitely more important."  C.S. Lewis
Psalm 8:3-6
Psalm 139
Romans 5:6-8
Ephesians 1:4-5

Here is the bottom line.
All of us are worshippers.
Who are you worshipping?
Who are you training your children to worship?

Watch this video...

False Gods - A Gospel Principle for Parents, by Paul Tripp from Paul David Tripp on Vimeo.