I've been trying to teach my students about character and being Christ-like, then it hit me, how am I supposed to teach them to be Christ-like when most everything in our society goes completely against what Christ taught. We've been doing a Health lesson on dieting and self-esteem. I was explaining to them them we should not judge someone based on the way they look, however they should be judged on their character. How do they treat others, what is their attitude like, do they display the "do unto others as you would have done to you", characteristic? I sometimes wonder if my blind student has it better when it comes to determining who people really are. He has to fully rely upon their characteristics and their attitudes. He can't look at someone and make a judgment about who they are based on their looks. When I asked him during class what he thought about the class based on just knowing them from their actions, he jokingly said, "You're all ugly" which in turn made us all laugh!
After I showed them this video clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U we discussed how Hollywood and the media set us up to fail when it comes to looking the way the world thinks we should look. I asked them this, "How many of you have met someone who was really attractive, yet once you got to know them they weren't as attractive as you once thought they were?" The whole class had met someone like this, when asked what changed their minds they said, "they didn't have a good personality or they weren't very nice." They discussed how they didn't realize that the media had changed the way the actors/actresses looked and they just assumed that's what they always looked like. I was surprised by their lack of reality.
The scripture speaks in Proverbs 23:7, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." The way we look at ourselves will determine how we feel about ourselves and affect our relationships with others and Christ. Unfortunately, by the time we become adults our self-image and self-esteem has been so destroyed by things that happened to us in childhood, it takes a lot of time to reverse the damage.
Paul said he rejoiced in his infirmities, he had to rely on God to help him with whatever issue he had. If you're dealing with self-esteem or self-worth issues remember you're not the only one, even Moses dealt with it, he asked for God to use his brother to speak for him. Just remember you have one you can take it to, the One whose image you were created in!
As a side note, I've been reading a great book regarding this topic and more if you're looking for more insight check out "Healing For Damage Emotions" by David A. Seamands.
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