Problem #2: Self-esteem Instead of God-esteem

Good morning, Good News Church. Good to see you guys. My name is Mario.

I'm one of the pastors here.

We are continuing our series, Modern American Problems, which we started last week.

The idea behind this series is that we want to address some issues and some

struggles that are particular to us, like in this place and this time.

So the reason we called it Modern American Problems is we are trying to address

not just problems in general that are mentioned in the scripture,

but ones that are specific for our nation and this particular time period that we happen to live in.

So if you're wondering, well, what kind of things do you want to cover in this series?

Well, we're going to show you. If you could put up the list of topics.

These are the things we want to cover for the first eight Sundays of the year.

So we started last week with problem number one, success instead of God's will.

The idea last week was some people define success in some way that is separate

from God's will, and then they go after that, and that's a problem.

Next week, we're going to talk about porn instead of sex. The week after that,

technology instead of community, right, and so on and so forth.

So the week that we are on right now is problem number two, self-esteem instead of God-esteem, right?

So if this is like the map at the mall that says you are here, all right?

You are here, all right? This is where you are. Problem number two,

self-esteem instead of God-esteem.

If I could state the problem briefly, it would be this.

In the broader American culture, outside of the church, people are told to love

themselves all the time and are rarely told to love God.

And if you take that and you replace the word love with the word esteem,

it would be equally as true.

The word esteem means to value something. If you hold someone to high esteem,

it means you highly value them.

In our culture, people are told to esteem themselves all the time.

They are rarely told to esteem God.

In fact, it is so rampant that this message has even found its way into a lot of churches.

I don't think it originated in churches, but I think it has found its way into a lot of churches.

In fact, I would say probably most, nearly all, at least in some form.

A lot of times churches have not let go of the God esteem. The idea that you

are to love God and the idea that you are to value God is still proclaimed in

a lot of churches, but self-esteem is also taught right alongside of God-esteem

in perhaps the majority of churches.

So today, what I wanted to do is I wanted to draw some attention to this self-esteem

movement in America. When I say the majority of churches, I'm just referring

to this nation. I don't even know what they do everywhere else.

But I want to talk about the self-esteem movement in America.

What is it? What is the self-esteem movement?

It's interesting. It's really fascinating. There's a lot of things that I could

say, talking about what it is, what it's made up of, how it has happened,

like what it has caused in our country, where it all started.

There is a very, very interesting article that I read this week.

It was by this guy who, he's a writer for, I think it's New York Magazine,

but it's an imprint or a subsidiary of New York Magazine.

And he's not a Christian, but he wrote this article on the history of the self-esteem movement.

And I just found it to be fascinating. He traces the thing back to this particular

legislator in California back in the 80s and how he started the first self-esteem

commission. I think it was in 1986.

And once he had like sort of the government backing of the self-esteem commission,

they were able to do quite a lot of things.

Eventually, like, changed the curriculum in schools in order to teach,

like, elementary kids and, like, different things than they used to teach them,

which then eventually, like, sort of changed a generation of people.

So it was a fascinating article, but I'm, it's not my job to tell you everything

I learned about that article this week, okay? I'm not a journalist,

and my job is not to, like, chronicle history of, you know, movements in America.

So you can look that up on your own. This is a sermon, and so all I'm going

to say is, like, that thing that I looked up this week, that self-esteem movement,

like, it did happen, and so I'm going to address it.

And so if I had to just give you my quick, like, well, but what is the it?

What is it that you're going to address, Mario?

Like, what is the self-esteem movement? This is the way I'm going to define

it for this morning, to do it kind of quick.

The self-esteem movement is the movement that brought us these,

if you could put up the picture now, okay?

This is the self-esteem movement. These are all t-shirts that I found online

this week. It was not difficult to find them, okay? It just took a few minutes to find this stuff.

Um, this one, if you can't read in the back, this one says you are enough.

This one says self love club. And then the little tagline is love yourself first,

always. And there's a bow.

Um, this one says, I am my own hero. This one says, be you, the world will adjust.

And all of these are, first of all, these are real church. We did not make these

up. These, every single one of these is available on Etsy right now.

Okay. So if you want these in

these colors, in this way, all of this is available to you this afternoon.

This is all online in the way it's shown.

I picked these because I think that this is just a normal part of America now.

This is the kind of stuff that we say and we believe.

I found it on t-shirts, but this is more than on t-shirts. It's on coffee mugs,

and it's on Instagram bios, and it's on pillows, and it's in just normal everyday

conversations that people have. This is the kind of stuff that we say now.

And so I think none of these are crazy. At least when I say that,

I mean like relative to our culture.

Like none of this is extreme. If you saw someone walking in Publix wearing this

kind of a shirt, like I don't think any of you would look at that and go like.

Honey, look, a terrible person.

You know what I mean? A false teacher. Should I go tell her she's a false teacher?

Should I go tell her? Like no, most of you are not going to do that.

Most of you are going to look at this stuff like you do every day.

Whenever you're walking around Walmart or Walgreens and you're going to go,

yeah like it's 2026 that's how people dress,

So I'm pointing this out because I want you to realize this is not crazy relative to our culture.

Like this, you know how sometimes preachers will, when they want to criticize

something, they will find like a really extreme version of it,

and then they'll attack that.

I don't think that's what I'm doing today. Okay, I don't think I'm finding some

extreme, crazy version of anything.

I'm just finding normal stuff that's just a normal part of American life.

And I'm saying, hey, look at this.

And I wanted you to think it through.

I think generations past

would probably have found a t-shirt

that says self-love club or a t-shirt that says my I am

my own hero would probably have found it to it would

probably have been perceived as a joke I think like 50 or 70 years ago that

would have been perceived as a joke if somebody were to wear that out in public

but I don't think that's the case now like when I went and found these online

like I didn't find them at like joke sites or prank sites or whatever like these

are just real t-shirts that are out there that I think people wear in all seriousness.

And the one of these that was the most staggering to me of all is this one.

Be you, the world will adjust.

Now, you may be here today and go, all right, I don't get what's so extreme about that.

That seems pretty normal. And I just want to suggest to you that it is possible

that maybe the reason you think that that's not very extreme and that's sort

of normal is because you have been swimming in this self-esteem culture for years, okay?

In fact, if you are 45 years old or younger, it's all you've ever known.

Like, it's the only culture we've ever lived in is this one.

It's been going on for about 45 years or so.

And so maybe for those of us who this is all, this is the only culture we've

ever been in, this is the only thing we ever know, that we go,

that actually seems normal, and sure.

But I just want to do a little thought experiment. Let's think this through, okay?

Be you, the world will adjust, okay?

First of all, it is the most self-centered, like, message I think I could come up with.

Okay? Like, the most self-centered message that somebody could think of,

I think, would be this. Because just think it through.

What they're saying is, okay, be you, the world will adjust,

means if adjustments are needed.

In fact, it doesn't even say if adjustments are needed, actually.

It doesn't say be you, the world might adjust.

It says be you, the world will adjust. Okay? So, adjustments are needed.

Okay? And when adjustments are needed, it is 0% on you, ever.

And it is 100% on everyone else to adjust to you.

That is, whether you like it or not, that is the definition of self-centered.

Like the world revolves around this person, right? And it's not just saying the person who wears it.

Like this is saying to everybody, everybody, you be you, and then the world needs to adjust to you.

Which, if you think about this logically, it doesn't even work,

right? If everybody is adjusting 0% and expecting everyone else to adjust 100%,

that wouldn't even work, right?

Like, that's illogical. But that's not, these websites weren't about that, okay?

Be you, the world will adjust. It is the most self-centered way you could possibly phrase it.

And I want you to consider what this communicates to people.

Because the shirt is not, it doesn't say, I'm going to be me and the world will adjust.

The shirt is actually written in such a way that it's saying a message to everyone else, right?

This shirt is meant to be saying to everyone, be you, and the world will adjust.

That's why it's weird, because all of the yous, when you add them all together,

are the world that's not supposed to be adjusting, except they have to.

So you're saying to everybody, be you, okay?

And so I just want you to consider what that communicates when you're saying

this to everybody. You might say,

well, I don't think it's saying it to everybody. I'm pretty sure it is.

Like, it's not, when I found this, I did not find it on a website that was like

a specialty t-shirt that was made for like specialty occasions where you're

just hanging around with like really holy people who are supposed to be themselves.

Like this shirt, you can tell by the way, if you go online, you'll see it.

It's meant to be worn in public.

But I want you to imagine, if you wear this in public, where you are saying

to every person at the mall, every person at Busch Gardens, every person in

Walgreens, right, you're just saying to them, be you, the world will adjust.

First of all, there's a certain percentage of the people that are out there

that are murderers. Did you know that?

Okay, I realize that's, you might go, that's kind of extreme. It is, but it's true.

Murderers exist. Is that right? Yes. I mean, I realize they're a small section

of the population, but they're there.

Like, people die, people murder other people in this country every single day,

and they do not get caught the day they do it.

Have you ever thought about that? Which means they go to Publix and they go

to the mall and they go to the Walgreens and they're there.

And so, I mean, I don't want to like ruin your afternoon, but I'm just saying,

when you go out to the mall, some of them are there.

Okay. And you're saying to them.

Have you ever thought about this before? You're saying, I mean,

I'm not saying they're going to kill you.

I'm just saying they killed someone, and they're there buying a taco,

and there you are, and you're saying to them, be you, the world will adjust,

which apparently is like they're going to die at your hands.

That's what you're saying. Now, I realize someone would come along and go,

well, no, I do not mean it that way. Of course, I didn't mean it for murderers.

Okay, but you know who else is at the mall?

Jealous people are at the mall. There are some people that are at the mall that

their discontent level is like so insanely high that it's ruining their relationships

with their friends and family.

Like the envy that they have for their friends and family is so much that it's

kind of deteriorating their relationships.

And you're also telling them, be you, the world will adjust.

Oh, I didn't mean that. Okay, well, there's not just jealous people there.

You know who else is at the mall? Lazy people.

Lazy people go to the mall, okay? There are people who are contributing almost nothing to society.

They are just sponging off their friends and family, and they just show up at the mall.

In fact, it's incredible that they're there, that they even got there that day,

because most of the time they're at home just scrolling on a screen.

But somehow, this particular day, they got enough motivation,

and they're there at the mall, and there you are, and they're doing nothing

to contribute to their world, and you're saying to them, be you.

The world will adjust. Well, no, no, I did not. I didn't mean those people.

Okay, well, you want to know who else? Is there a Publix?

Liars. There are liars there. No, they're not. Come on. Yes,

they are. Just you walk into the produce section. I'm going to tell you,

there's a bunch of them right there every single time.

Liars, people that just speak dishonesty like it's a second language.

You know they exist, right?

They're there. They shop too, right? And you're saying to them, be you.

The world will adjust to your dishonesty. Now, I realize anybody who's going

to wear the sweatshirt is going to go, well, no, no, I didn't mean those people.

And what I'm saying is, yes, but those are all the people.

Like if I just kept listing issues, like it would cover everybody.

Everyone's a sinner. And so just think about the message you're sending out

in the world. It could almost not be more unhealthy if you tried.

What could be more unhealthy than saying to every single sinner in the world,

hey, you, stay stuck in whatever sin you are in. The world will adjust.

Now, I realize people who wear this are gonna go, oh, Mario,

I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean that.

I only meant good people, okay?

There aren't any good people there are

no good people at Walgreens there are no good people at

the mall there are no good people in Publix they're not including you when you

get there there aren't any good people aha and that's the issue that's the thing

you're not supposed to believe that's the thing you're not supposed to say out

loud right that's not that's the thing you're not supposed to say in self-esteem

culture you're not supposed to say nobody's good.

But the Bible says nobody's good. So I want to show you several Bible verses,

both for and against the self-esteem movement. Okay.

So basically I want to answer the question, what is right about the self-esteem

movement? And then what is wrong about the self-esteem movement?

I want to answer what is right because very rarely I think are there movements

that are like, they're wrong on everything, every single detail of everything all the time.

Lots of times when someone's wrong about something, they're still right about something.

Okay, so let's talk about what's right with the self-esteem movement and what's

wrong with the self-esteem movement, starting with what's right.

I think if we're going to talk about what's right with it, we could start with

the very first page of the Bible, okay? So the first verse I want to show you

is just right there on the first page, Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

Right after God creates the world and all the creatures, he gets to humanity

in verse 26, and this is what it says.

It says, then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.

Now the word man there does not mean males exclusively. It means humanity,

which will be obvious as I keep reading.

Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.

They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock,

all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth. So,

God created man in his own image.

He created him in the image of God. He created them, male and female.

So the Bible begins with this, like, I don't know, this really big concept that

human beings are special because they are created in God's image,

which is different than the rest of creation.

It's different than the birds, and it's different than the fish,

and it's different than the livestock, right?

That we are made in God's image, and there is an inherent worth and value and

specialness and sort of behavior that revolves all around this idea that humans are different.

They're made in the image of God. And so the part of the self-esteem movement

that says everybody's special is correct, right?

They say, well, everybody's special. Some of you may go, everybody's special.

No, that's the Bible. That is true.

Everybody is special. Every human being is special in that they are made in

the likeness of God, and that makes them different and special compared to all

of the other things that God made.

Now, this idea that human beings are special and in God's image,

and therefore that would affect the way that we would live, this comes up later on in the Bible.

So for instance, the book of James refers back to Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

So let me show you another verse.

This is James chapter 3, starting in verse 8.

James 3 · chapter mention

James is talking about the way that we use our words, the way we talk about other people.

Then he says, James 3, 8, but no man can tame the tongue.

And the word tongue here is not really being used literally to talk about the

body part. It's more of a metaphor, meaning like the stuff you say,

okay? All the things you say.

No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.

We bless our Lord and Father with it, and we curse men.

Oh, now this is interesting. It doesn't say we bless our Lord and Father with

it, and we curse men with it.

It says we bless our Lord and Father with it, and we curse men who are made in what?

God's likeness with it. Well, is that a problem?

Cursing people who are made in God's likeness? Apparently, because he says,

blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers,

these things should not be this way.

So I'm not supposed to use my words to tear down someone that's made in God's image?

That seems to be what James is saying here, right? He is taking the doctrine

of made in God's likeness and using it as the foundation for why humans should

not mistreat each other, right?

Jesus, I think, also refers to,

or at least just assumes this is true in Matthew chapter six, verse 26.

So I'm gonna give you three passages about what's right with the self-esteem

movement. This is the third one.

Matthew chapter six, verse 26. This is Jesus speaking right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount.

And he says, look at the birds of the sky. He's talking to them about like the

worries of their life. And then he brings this up. He says, look at the birds of the sky.

They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Look at the next verse, or look at the next sentence. Aren't you worth more than they?

What is Jesus saying here? He says, you look at the birds, right?

And your heavenly father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they?

What is Jesus assuming? It seems to me Jesus is assuming this.

Well, if God cares about birds, and he does, then God really cares about you,

because you're worth more than a bird.

Where did Jesus get the idea that you're worth more than a bird?

I think Genesis chapter one.

Above all the fish and all the livestock and all the birds, mankind was made in God's image.

And so the biblical doctrine that we are made in the image of God shows that

we have inherent value as human beings.

So therefore, we shouldn't be killed. We shouldn't be mistreated, right?

It's probably the reason why you should not kill yourself or mistreat yourself,

right? Because you are made in the image of God.

And I think all of those verses and all of those ideas would be like quickly

embraced by the self-esteem movement and have been embraced by the self-esteem

movement that is within Christianity, and rightly so, because it's right.

But wait, there's more. So the second question I want to ask is,

what's wrong with the self-esteem movement? And for that, I want to show you six passages.

The first one is 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul's talking to

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention 2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

Timothy. I'm just going to read the whole paragraph. He says, but know this.

Difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self,

lovers of money, boastful, proud,

blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving,

irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,

without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited,

lovers of pleasure rather than

lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.

Avoid these people. So this is a list, and clearly it's not a list of good things,

because it ends with avoid these people, right?

It's a list of sin and sinners that Timothy is told to avoid.

And what does he start the list with?

Like when he lists the watch out for this, watch out for these sins in the last

days, what does he begin the whole list? What's the first thing that pops into

his mind when he writes out the list?

He says, people will be lovers of self.

What? Wait, wait, what? Wait. So the t-shirt says self-love club.

Like I thought it was a club.

Usually you want to be in a club, but this is making it sound like it's a problem and not a club.

Yeah. I guess, I mean, if it's a club, I guess it's one you don't,

it's not a good one to be in.

Right? Because this is avoid these people. Lovers of self.

Apparently it is possible for you to love yourself too much.

You can love yourself to the point of sinfulness.

In fact, that's not the only part of the list, really, that applies to this.

I mean, it says lovers of self, and then it says lovers of money,

and then it says boastful and proud.

I'm pretty sure I am my own hero would fall under boastful and proud.

All right, let's go to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 is interesting

Philippians 2 · chapter mention Philippians 2 · chapter mention

because the advice that's given in Philippians chapter 2 is just so different

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

than the advice that's given in our day and age.

Philippians 2, starting in verse 3. So we have like the way that people have

told us how you're supposed to interact with other people and all that.

And then Paul tells the Philippians who are Christians, like this is how you're

supposed to act. Look what he tells them.

He says Philippians 2 verse 3, he says, do nothing out of rivalry or conceit,

Philippians 2:3

but in humility, consider others as more important than yourselves.

So we're not supposed to be doing things out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility.

So this is the attitude we're supposed to have, which from what I've been told,

in humility, like in the Greek, it's a word that means something like lowliness

of mind. So it's kind of the opposite of self-esteem, right?

It's not you thinking higher of yourself. It'd be you thinking lower of yourself.

So in this lowliness of mind, what are you supposed to do?

Consider others as more important than yourselves. What?

Wait a minute. You're telling me the way that the Bible says we're supposed

to, I go into a room full of people and I'm supposed to like kind of act like

I'm the least important person in the room?

That is not what we've been told to do, right? That is not, no,

no. Walk in there and act like you're the least important? No, no, no.

Baby, you're a firework.

Come on, show them what you're worth. Like that's what we do in our culture.

You go into a room, you don't act like the least important.

You make them go, shoot across the sky.

That's what you do. You show them what you're worth.

The Bible often commands a humility that just does not fit with our culture, right?

You've heard the song before, right? Okay.

Let's go to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22, I think,

Matthew 22 · chapter mention Matthew 22 · chapter mention

is the most important passage on this topic, okay?

Matthew 22, starting in verse 35, says, and one of them, an expert in the law,

asked a question to test him, okay? The him here is Jesus.

So a dude is talking to Jesus, asking him a question. The question is,

teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?

This is what Jesus answers back to the question. Verse 37, he said to him,

love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and most important command. Now, I just want to point out,

this right here is God esteem.

Like when I say self-esteem instead of God esteem, this is what I'm referring

to. God esteem is love the Lord your God with all your heart.

Love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your mind.

He even says this is the greatest and most important command.

It's like the most important thing you can do is esteem God, love God above all else.

And then he goes on, and what he says next is also very helpful for this topic.

The next thing he says is, the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself, okay?

So when he says the second, the second what?

The second greatest commandment. If you remember the one before,

he said, this is the most important, this is the number one command,

and so now he's saying, this is bonus information.

The guy only asked for the number one command, and Jesus said,

well, I'm going to tell you number one and number two, okay?

So the second most important command is, love your neighbor as yourself.

All the law and the prophets depend on these two commands. Those are the top two.

Now, the reason I need to address this little five-word phrase,

love your neighbor as yourself, okay, is because as I was growing up,

I was taught that this is the place where the Bible tells you to love yourself, okay?

So if you ever meet like a Christian that's big into the self-esteem movement

and you say, you know, so am I supposed to love myself a lot?

Oh, yes, yes. You probably love yourself way too little.

You've got to bump that up. And if you were to say, where does it say that in the Bible?

This is where they're going to tell you to go because love yourself is not in

the Bible. This is the closest it gets, okay? Love your neighbor as yourself.

And the idea, like the way it seemed that it was explained to me was this,

love your neighbor as yourself means, like there's, like embedded in the command

is an implicit love yourself, right?

If you're going to love your neighbor a lot, then you got to love yourself because

you're supposed to love your neighbor as yourself.

So you got to love, you got to spend a lot of time like thinking about you and

loving yourself so that you can then love your neighbor that much.

There's an implicit command to love yourself in order to love your neighbor.

I feel like that's the way that it was explained to me growing up.

I don't see it that way. In fact, it's not what it said. Like,

the command is about loving your neighbor.

Like, the only way you can get this command to say love yourself is to take

three words out of the middle of it and squeeze it together because it doesn't

actually say love yourself. It says love your neighbor as yourself.

So the command, like the object of who you're supposed to love is your neighbor,

and the phrase as yourself is an adjective to describe the kind of love you

should have for your neighbor, right?

Meaning, I think this is what it's saying. I think that what Jesus is doing

here, And Jesus actually didn't make this up. He's quoting the Old Testament when he says this.

The law that was given that Jesus is quoting here, it's not saying I command you to love yourself.

I don't think this command, whether it's the version of it that's in the law

or the version of it that's on Jesus' lips, he's not saying,

it's not a command to love yourself.

This command to love your neighbor assumes that you love yourself.

It's not a command to love yourself. It's an assumption that you already do.

So now take this love that you have for yourself. Like you must love yourself

enough that you want to keep surviving and you keep caring about you.

And so the assumption built into the Old Testament law and the assumption built

into Jesus's words here is not you better find a way to love yourself more.

The assumption that's built in is you all, by default, you love yourself.

Now use that self-love that you have as the standard for how you're supposed to treat your neighbor.

You see that? It isn't commanding it, it's assuming it.

And I think that's the same thing that happened in the previous verse that I

read to you from Philippians, when it says, consider others more important than yourself.

The assumption is that you consider yourself important enough that if you treated

people even more important than you, you'd be treating them well, right?

Like, it doesn't seem like it's in the apostle Paul's mind at all,

that you could be valuing yourself so low that if you treated people better

than you, you'd still be mistreating them. Like, Paul doesn't seem to assume that.

He assumes, like, the amount that you love you and esteem you,

at least for the average person, I think, the typical amount of self-love you

have, those of us who are still surviving, we're not killing ourselves,

we're not, like, trying to harm ourselves, we genuinely, like, care about ourselves.

If we love our neighbor like that, we'll be loving them plenty.

Okay, let's go to Matthew chapter 6. This is right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

In fact, this is from the same paragraph where Jesus talked about how you're worth more than a bird.

Same paragraph, Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

It says this. He's talking about like the worries of this life.

And so Jesus in Matthew chapter 6 verse 31 says, so don't worry,

Matthew 6:31

saying what we'll eat, we eat, or what will we drink, or what will we wear.

He's saying you don't have to worry about the stuff of your life.

He says, for the idolaters eagerly seek all these things.

So the idolaters, the people who are worshiping the wrong God in the wrong way,

they are eagerly seeking all these things and your heavenly father knows you need them.

But seek, what's the next word? First. Now that's a big deal.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will

be provided for you. You don't have to worry about yourself.

The idolaters worry about themselves and they don't need to because God's got you covered.

Rather, what you need to do is you need to seek first the kingdom.

Who do you seek first? God, not you.

God is first, not you. I guess what I'm trying to say is, like God's kingdom

is first, not your kingdom.

God's righteousness is first, not your righteousness.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. This is not saying love yourself first always.

It's the opposite of that.

Let's go to Romans chapter three.

This one's good and depressing. Romans chapter three, starting in verse 10.

Romans 3.10 says, as it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one.

There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away. All alike have become useless. There's a self-esteem verse for you.

All alike have become useless. there is no one who does what is good, not even one.

And he actually goes on and on and on, but I'm just, I think that's enough.

I'm just going to skip down to verse 19.

Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the

law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God's judgment.

We aren't worthy of God's forgiveness.

We aren't worthy of God's blessings in our life. we are worthy of his judgment because of our sin.

Let's do one more verse for fun. Proverbs chapter 28, verse 26.

Proverbs 28:26

Proverbs is great because they're just, they're short little verses that are

all in one sentence here. It's great.

Look at Proverbs 28, verse 26. It says, the one who trusts in himself is a fool,

Proverbs 28:26

but the one who walks in wisdom will be safe.

I included this one because it seems to me the self-esteem movement is really

big into trust in yourself.

Have you noticed that? Like over and over again, believe in yourself,

believe in yourself, believe in yourself, believe in yourself,

believe in yourself. The book of Proverbs says, the one who trusts in himself is a fool.

Like you are certainly not your own hero.

I could go on and on. Ephesians 5 addresses this. Jeremiah 9 addresses this.

Luke chapter 18 addresses this. Galatians 5 addresses this. Ephesians chapter

Luke 18 · chapter mention Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

2 addresses this. But I think we've covered enough.

The self-esteem gospel says that you are a good person and you are worthy and you are enough.

And the gospel of Jesus Christ says that you are bad and unworthy and not enough.

But it also says the God who created you in his image came down into our mess

and died on the cross so that your sins could be forgiven,

so that you could for all of eternity be treated better than you're worth,

that you could be blessed more than you've earned, that you could be loved more than you deserve.

And knowing that should cause God esteem to well up within us and come out of us.

So let me pray and then after I pray, we're gonna sing a song that I hope will

be God esteem coming out of us but let's pray first.

Father, I thank you for this. I know there are some of us in this room that

we hear this and it resonates and we go, yeah, that just sounds right.

I kind of thought there was something off and there are probably some of us

in this room that go like, whoa, this is blown up whole culture and I got to

change all my categories. I don't know if I believe all this.

Like I know this hits us different ways.

But I thank you for your truth. I thank you for making us in your image.

I thank you for making a world in such a way that we ought not mistreat each

other and harm each other and harm ourselves. I thank you that we are worth more than birds.

But I pray that you would help us to, in humility, interact with other people

and you the way that we should.

I pray that we'd see you as our hero and you as enough and you as the one that

we will love with all our hearts.

And I pray as we seek you first, thank you that you will work out all the other stuff.

Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for Jesus for coming,

to giving us like an eternal blessing and eternal love that we did not earn

and that you earned on our behalf. Thank you for the gospel.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Let me end with these good words from God's word.

This is from Jeremiah chapter nine, verse 23. It says, this is what the Lord says.

The wise man must not boast in his wisdom.

The strong man must not boast in

his strength the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth but the one who boasts

should boast in this that he understands and knows me that I am Yahweh showing

faithful love justice and righteousness on the earth for I delight in these things that is good news.