If some one asked you to evaluate yourself, what standards would you use? Now I understand that this question is complex and a whole lot depends on the circumstances at the time and place the question is asked. For instance, in an office environment, we would be expected to evaluate ourselves based on the turn over of good results so to speak.

How do you see yourself? When you look in the mirror, what do you see and do you like what you see? Or, do you find it hard to look into a mirror?

Regardless of the answers you put forward, the core of the matter is, what standards did you use to evaluate and reach your findings? If it turns out that you do feel great about yourself and you have a good self esteem and self confidence, that is truly commendable, but it is crucial to second check the standards used to reach your findings. If on the other hand, you do not feel great about yourself and or you have a low self esteem, you equally need to second check the standards used to reach your conclusions about yourself and in addition, there are some truths which you need to come to understand. Some standards could be how well or otherwise do we do in academic performance, use of talents, work skills, social skills or the lack thereof, circle of friends, physical looks etc. More often than not physical looks is the first basis on which a person is evaluated and with the added pressure from the media, both males and females are pushed into evaluating themselves based on their physical looks. For teenage boys, the pressure is to body build whereas for teenage girls, the pressure is to look as skinny as possible.

As Christians, our standards and how we ought to see ourselves are set by the Bible. The Bible teaches us that we are God’s creation and that we are made in His image. Therefore if we think that we are worthless or if we look down on ourselves for whatever reason, what we are actually doing is denigrating God. More so, in some instances, the reasons for which we put ourselves down are simply wrong. For instance, physical looks, talents, skills, circle of friends etc are all near insignificant in evaluating a person. Think about it, physical looks change and can be changed and more importantly it has no connection with a person’s attitude or character, talents is a gift(s) people just happen to possess, while skills can be improved through constant practice. Therefore because all these qualities are variable, they cannot be trusted as a yard stick for evaluating self worth.

Please do not be deceived into thinking that low self esteem or putting one down is the equivalent of being humble. Persons with low self-esteem are too busy thinking about themselves, whereas a humble person does not overly dwell on what people think or say about them. In addition, a humble person accepts his/her imperfection, hoping that God will help them. Whilst persons with low self-esteem are very depressed about their imperfections and they think that they don't live up to the expectations of others, and sometimes, they could envy more successful people. A humble person is standing before God, whereas a person with low self-esteem only cares about what people think about them. More importantly, if you do have a low self esteem, do not condemn yourself. You can still change your attitude towards yourself and begin to see yourself for who you truly are. And that is a person made by God in His image and who is most precious to God. Think about it, 'Christ died for you! Can you imagine how precious you are to God?'

If on the other hand, you do possess amazing abilities and skills etc, you should have a grateful and humble attitude as opposed to being proud or thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to. True humility is recognizing that all the qualities that you posses are only a gift from God, and everything that you accomplish is due to those God given qualities. It is, therefore, not very wise to consider yourself superior to someone who is less talented or has accomplished less.