See Yourself the Way God Sees You

Do you know it’s God’s will for you to have a healthy self-image? Do you know He desires for you to truly love yourself for who you are—your personality, your gifts and talents, and even your quirks?

I’ll admit, there was a time when I didn’t like myself at all. I was terribly insecure, and I constantly wanted to be like other people. I was focused on everything that was wrong with me, and it was keeping me stuck!

You see, we have an enemy, Satan, who wants to constantly fill our minds with negative thoughts. He wants us to continuously focus on our weaknesses, meditate on them, then speak them out of our mouths. He’ll play on our insecurities and, like a broken record, bombard us with the same things, over and over. He’ll tell us things like:

“You’re always messing things up—how can God love you?”

“You’ll never be as good as your brother or sister.”

Or maybe you’ve heard this one: “You can’t do that—you’re not smart enough!” He wants us to feel bad about ourselves, then compare ourselves with everybody else.

But here’s the problem: If we don’t recognize his lies and replace them with truth from God’s Word, we begin to believe these things about ourselves and we can even start saying them out loud.

Your Words Matter

Our words are incredibly important. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life] (AMPC). It’s been proven that we believe what we think and say about ourselves more than what anyone else says about us.

That’s why it’s so important for us to purposely meditate on the good things from God’s Word. It has the ability to renew our minds and help us see ourselves the way God sees us (see Romans 12:2). The more we know what God says, the more we will recognize the lies of the enemy and be able to replace them with the truth.

For instance, if the enemy (or anyone else) tries to convince you that you’re unlovable, remind him what God says about you. Think and say things like:

“I am a child of God and I am fearfully and wonderfully made. He loves me and cares about every single detail of my life. Before I was ever born, He approved of me. He has a great plan for my life!” (See Psalm 139; Romans 8:38-39; Jeremiah 1:5, 29:11.)

Learning to confess God’s Word out loud has been life-changing for me. Confession means “to say the same thing as.” It’s so important for us to say what God says and speak His Word—not what our feelings, other people or our circumstances are telling us.

I encourage you to take time to get to know what God’s Word says about you, then speak it out. Truthfully, it is one of the most powerful things you can do to change your self-image and begin seeing yourself in a positive way.

When the Lord first began teaching me about this, I sat down and made a list of confessions based on Scripture. By the time I was finished, I had more than 100 individual confessions! I began speaking them out loud twice a day to get His truth deep down inside of me.

For instance, I used to deal with a lot of guilt. So, one of my confessions was (and still is): “I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). When I first began saying this, I truly didn’t believe it—I didn’t feel right with God. However, over the weeks and months and years, God used His Word to change me and help me believe that I am right with Him.

It’s a spiritual truth: When we talk about ourselves in a positive way, we will begin to see ourselves in a healthy, positive way, the same way God talks about us in His Word. We can improve our own opinions about ourselves simply by the way we speak!

I challenge you to take this message to heart. You can begin by spending even just five minutes each morning—even in your car on the way to work—to declare positive things from the Word about yourself, your life and your day. You can combat the “broken record” and replace it with words that will produce a healthy self-image.

As you do, the truth of God’s Word will overcome the lies and you’ll begin to see yourself in a whole new way.

Remember, God loves you, and one of His greatest desires is for you to love yourself. He has a personalized plan for your life that only you can fulfill. He wants to give you the confidence to walk boldly into your future, loving your life and loving the person He created you to be.