Verse of the day: Ruth 1:20-21, But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
Over the many years of ministry, law enforcement experience, and just dealing with people on an everyday basis, I have encountered many who suffer from “low self-esteem”. Much of how a person feels about themselves, from the stories I have heard from many of them, is related to upbringing and what they experienced as children. How they were treated by parents, other children in school, or what a teacher or someone of influence in their life said to them about their level of intelligence. As they grew older and maneuvered life, many of their life choices or circumstances that they experienced, whether consequences for their own actions or the actions of others, resulted in them equating this to who they were as a person. Naomi, whose name means “my delight”, gave herself a name that the Lord did not give her. When she returned to Bethlehem, as people recognized her and called her by her name, she self-identified as Mara, which means “bitterness”. This self-identification came from her experience with loss, the loss of her husband and two sons. The way she saw herself came from something that was much deeper. Ultimately she self-identified as Mara because of her perception that God Almighty had afflicted her. However, note one very important thing about her new name, it was a name she gave herself, not one that God gave her. There were instances in which God was the Author of a name change, whether positive or negative, such as with Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, and Esau, just to name a few. Over time, those of us who know Jesus as Savior have been called Christians (Acts 11:26), Sect of the Nazarenes (Acts 24:5), followers of the Way (Acts 9:2), sheep (John 10:27-28), sons of God and saints in various verses. When God allows adversity, and when we suffer, whether as a result of our own choices or not or when people treat us negatively, persecute us, or abuse us, this does not define who we are in Christ. God often allows adversity as a way to grow our faith, draw us closer to Him in prayer, teach us to be more like Christ in our responses, and works all of it for our good (Romans 8:28-29). Not once do we read that He allows suffering for the purpose of crushing our self-esteem. He does want us to recognize and acknowledge that we are sinners, and that we are unrighteous and wicked, but only so that we will turn to Christ in humility, repenting, confessing, and calling upon Jesus for eternal life. If we read and study God’s Word, we will discover that we are God’s handiwork (Ephesians 2:10), we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), we are clay in the Potter’s hands that He molds and shapes into something beautiful, from the inside out (Isaiah 64:8; 1 Peter 3:3-4). We must not let the Satan, his demons, other people, or our circumstances, dictate for us who we are in Christ Jesus. God makes it clear in His Word that regardless of what we endure in this life, as His children, we have a love that is unfailing, and that cannot be taken from us. Romans 8:38-39 clearly says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Let us not give ourselves a name that God has not given us. Let us not self-identify, in pity, as something or someone that we are not. Instead, let us, with humility, acknowledge, and identify as who we are in Jesus and do all we can to reach the lost and the broken with the Gospel message and a testimony of how God has taken our brokenness and used it for His glory. We may not see ourselves as much in our own eyes, but we have a God who loves us so much that He gave His life for us (John 3:16). I would have to conclude that this make us very valuable in Christ.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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