Negative About Yourself – How to Overcome Self-Criticism audio video notes. The opinion you have of yourself is the most valuable and important opinion you have about anyone. How you feel about others begins with how you feel about yourself. If, on the inside, you feel yourself as inferior, not talented, small, of no value, etc., you will become exactly what you feel. We constantly convey what is happening on the inside outwardly.
SMILE STAYING POSITIVE WHEN…
By Pastor Delbert Young
Negative About Yourself – How to Overcome Self-Criticism
Audio
.
Video
.
WATCH SERMON VIDEO
.
Negative About Yourself – How to Overcome Self-Criticism
Scriptures: Matthew 22:37-39, Numbers 13:33, Numbers 13:30, Numbers 14:9, Genesis 1:4, Genesis 1:10, Genesis 1:12, Genesis 1:18, Genesis 1:21, Genesis 1:25, Genesis 1:31
We all need to have a positive opinion about ourselves, but many people don’t. They struggle with self-worth. Many feel inferior on the inside. They don’t like who they are and feel no one likes them. They feel they are not talented, and they think something is wrong with their physical appearance. They’ve made too many mistakes or feel raised on the wrong side of the tracks. In their minds, a video is constantly playing saying they are unattractive, or dumb, a failure, etc. They’re never positive about anything they do. They compliment others but never compliment themselves. It’s not what Jesus instructed.
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
It’s a command to have a positive opinion of yourself. If you don’t love yourself in a healthy way, you will never be able to love others the way you should. We all have faults and weaknesses. We all have things we wish were different about us, but God never created us to go through life being negative about ourselves.
The opinion you have of yourself is the most valuable and important opinion you have about anyone. How you feel about others begins with how you feel about yourself. If, on the inside, you feel yourself as inferior, not talented, small, of no value, etc., you will become exactly what you feel. We constantly convey what is happening on the inside outwardly. Subconsciously, you are sending out messages. For example, if you are sad or crying, sadness and depression come out. How about anger? But if you are happy and laughing, joy comes out.
Though physically attractive outside, if you feel unattractive inside, you will convey those feelings, and subconsciously, you will push people away, costing you important relationships. It could drive away your perfect spouse. It could drive away people who would open important doors for you, taking you to a new level of life. We push God’s blessings away. He can’t bless us if we’re negative about ourselves when he’s told us to be positive. It is imperative you Smile Staying Positive when You want to be Negative about Yourself. What I want you to see is the problem is on the inside.
People see you the way you see yourself.
If some of us would simply change our opinion about ourselves, stop beating ourselves over past failures, and stop concentrating on every physical flaw we have, we would go to a new level of life. We could experience the best God has for us.
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
Numbers 13:33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). WE SEEMED LIKE GRASSHOPPERS IN OUR OWN EYES, and we looked the same to them.”
These were ten of the twelve men returning from spying out the Promised Land. Nephilim were/are giants. Notice the spies didn’t say the giants said they were grasshoppers. They said, “We seemed like grasshoppers IN OUR OWN EYES…” So, they conveyed they were as grasshoppers to the giants. The giants saw the spies as the spies saw themselves. How we see ourselves on the inside is how others see us on the outside.
This “grasshopper thinking” caused the entire generation to die in the wilderness, never reaching the new level of life God had for them. They pushed God’s blessings away. How you think about yourself on the inside determines the quality of life you live. Only Joshua and Caleb reached the new level. Their thinking was not “grasshopper thinking.” Here is what Caleb and Joshua said.
(KJV) Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; FOR WE ARE WELL ABLE TO OVERCOME IT.
(KJV) Numbers 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; FOR THEY ARE BREAD FOR US…
It’s rebellion against the Lord to allow yourself to have a grasshopper mentality on the inside. Joshua and Caleb said God’s people could eat the giants alive. They were not inferior. They were talented, equipped, and well able.
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
A problem today is the same as then. Many, if not most, of God’s people are “grasshopper” disciples. The grasshopper image on the inside comes through to the outside. If you send out feelings of inferiority and smallness, then people will treat you as inferior and small. If you send out “I’m small and weak” feelings, then people will see you and treat you as small and weak. We need to change the video and see we have greatness on the inside, not smallness and weakness. We’ve all made mistakes, but those were in the past.
In some places along the way, people have tried to push you down, but it didn’t make you a grasshopper. You are a child of the Most High God. God does not want you to spend your life in the wilderness thinking about how weak, unimportant, inferior, and small you are. Say, “I am who God says I am. I am equipped. I am empowered, and I am strong. Furthermore, I have the favor of God. I am well able to fulfill my destiny.”
People go through life all negative, seeing themselves as inferior, and wonder why they never seem to have God’s blessings.
They have deactivated their faith by focusing on every bad thing. Years ago, we were at a men’s retreat. I was to be the last speaker finishing up the conference. Just before I was to speak, someone allowed this guy to talk. Once addicted to pornography, he began talking about what a maggot he is, not was, is. He went on and on about what a worm slimeball he is. He was nothing more than a fur ball his cat hacked up. On and on, he went, and I got fidgety. All our men began looking at me, knowing what this guy was saying was not sitting well with me, and I was about to talk.
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
Finally, he shut up, and I was introduced. I immediately asked everyone to stand, hold up their Bibles, and repeat after me. I yelled out as they repeated, “This is my Bible. It says I am a child of the Most High God. I sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I am not a maggot, and I am a joint heir with Christ. Furthermore, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am not a slimeball. I am a new creation of God, and I am a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of God. Moreover, I have the favor of God on my life…” On and on I went. By the time I stopped, everyone was shouting and praising God.
Cutting yourself down is not humility.
It does not bring any honor to God for us to talk about how bad we are and talk about our failures and inferiorities. It will stop you from going into your promise. If you want to bring a smile to God’s face, if you want to see God open doors for you, if you want the favor of God upon your life, then you must realize who you are. You are not a grasshopper. You are special, and you are a masterpiece.
Too frequently, we get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and say, “Yuck! Look at those wrinkles. Look at my belly, and look at my hair.” We should take care of the bodies God gave us but not focus on the negative. I’ve learned if we have a good image inwardly, it will surface outwardly. We should smile a big smile and say, “Look at that good-looking, intelligent, confident, successful person.”
Begin your day by thanking God for his goodness. Thank God for your good qualities and successes. Find good things you like about yourself and focus on them. Think about how you make people happy. There are some areas where you excel. There is something you can do better than almost anyone you know. Think about this, and you will begin improving in other areas.
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
The best gift you can give this world is a positive you.
If you are positive, happy, secure, confident, hopeful, etc., you are giving this world the greatest gift you can possibly give—the gift of yourself.
Never say another negative thing about yourself, no matter how frustrated you become. Even if you think it, don’t allow it to come out of your mouth. It will come back to you. Have you ever been around someone who called themselves dumb, stupid, a mess-up, etc.? They’d say something like, “I can’t do anything right. Everything I touch, I mess up.” What they were doing was criticizing God’s very own creation. They were saying, “God, you messed up creating me.” No. God didn’t make a mistake. The problem is the inside.
Have you complimented yourself lately?
People can complement others, but when it comes to them, they only see the bad. People will tell others they look nice or they did a great job but cut themselves down. Compliment yourself. I’ll say something like, “Sometimes I’m good, but sometimes I’m really good.” I will catch myself writing something for a sermon. I’ll stop and say, “Wow! Delbert, that is really good!” It’s healthy to compliment yourself. God did.
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
God saw that the light was GOOD… Genesis 1:4
God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was GOOD. Genesis 1:10
The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was GOOD. Genesis 1:12
to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was GOOD. Genesis 1:18
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was GOOD. Genesis 1:21
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was GOOD. Genesis 1:25
GOD SAW ALL THAT HE HAD MADE, AND IT WAS VERY GOOD. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. Genesis 1:31
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
When God did something good, he said so. He complimented himself. He celebrated what he did good at the end of every day. God’s always good, but sometimes he’s very good. You need to say, “I did good (bad English, but you understand). I’m proud of myself.” Some people are never satisfied with themselves. They focus on what could have been better than what was good and very good.
Here’s a great truth.
When God first said it “was good,” he wasn’t even close to being finished. It was actually chaotic, but it “was good.” All he’d done was turn on the lights to begin creation. He wasn’t finished. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good.
There are areas you and I are working on. We’re not finished. It’s probably still chaotic. It’s not perfected yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. Compliment yourself. I’m not in my dream home yet, but I have a house. I’ve done good. I don’t have my dream car yet, but I have a car. I’ve done good. I don’t have the job I want yet, but I have a job, and I’m preparing. I’ve done good. Maybe you haven’t totally overcome your addiction, but you’re better off than last year. You’ve done good. Celebrate what you’ve accomplished. Pat yourself on the back. It’s “very good” is on the way. Celebrate your small victories along the way.
Every day we each have a thousand things we can complain and be negative about, but there is something about which to be positive.
You’re breathing. You’re alive. You have an opportunity to do something good today. You have good friends and a good family. There’s something good to celebrate.
You Want To Be Negative About Yourself
Work on how you see yourself on the inside. Jesus said you were to love yourself, and to love people properly. If you don’t love yourself in a healthy way, you will never be able to love people the way you should. The opinion you have of yourself is the most valuable and important opinion you have about anyone. The way you see and feel about yourself is what you become and how others see and feel about you. You are not a grasshopper. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
The best gift you can give this world is a positive you. You are always good, but sometimes you are very good. If you will Smile Staying Positive when You want to be Negative about Yourself, it will take you into your promised land and the blessings of God. You are well able to defeat the giants.
Negative About Yourself – How to Overcome Self-Criticism
Negative About Yourself – How to Overcome Self-Criticism
Other Related Sermons:
Smile Staying Positive When series
Were Not All Ten Cleansed Luke 17:11-19
Be A Good Example audio video notes
You Had a Bad Mother audio video notes
Also see: