In the public school system, and in America today, we see a strong pull towards helping our children build self-confidence. Our children are great; our children are smart, our children are going places. It doesn’t matter that a good portion of our children are failing in school, can’t even read when they graduate, and couldn’t fill out a job application if their lives depended on it; we need to ensure they are confident in themselves and believe they can do anything.
The irony is, most of our kids aren’t self-confident. Because we’ve failed to teach them their true value, our children are filled with self-doubt and poor self-image. Perhaps if we spent less time teaching them their worth is wrapped up in themselves and more time teaching them truth, self-confidence would no longer be an issue.
The Truth
“as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;”
Romans 3:10
The truth is, not one of us is good. We aren’t. We lie, cheat, steal, think bad thoughts, and often act upon them. We think of ourselves first, others second, and then think of God. We can try to cover it up with a pretty surface and a faked veneer, but underneath we are all sinners.
How is this encouraging? When our children understand there aren’t ‘good’ people and ‘bad’ people – we’re all sinners – they begin to see their value isn’t in what they do, say, or the status they hold; their value must lie in something outside of themselves.
The Truth
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
The truth is God loved us so much, it didn’t matter that we had already messed up and gone astray. He loved us so much He gave His perfect Son, who had done no wrong, to pay for our sin. He LOVED us. We are loved by the Creator of the universe, the creator of all things. He loved us then and loves us still. He loved us when we were yet sinners and He loves us even as He is still perfecting us.
The Truth
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10
The truth is our value isn’t in what we do, but in Who created us. We are God’s workmanship. We were created. Why is this point important? We aren’t cosmic blips, accidents, evolutionary mishaps, or thoughtless beings. We were purposefully created! We were created for a reason and God has already gone before us to prepare our paths; we have only to accept this and move forward.
The Truth
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…”
I John 3:1
The truth is our value is not in what we do, but in Who we belong to; Who our Father is. Our value is in being a daughter/son of the King. Not an ordinary earthly king, but the King of kings; the King above all else. We are valuable because we belong to the God of the universe and He loves us.
The Truth
“…O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. …”
Psalm 139:1-24
The truth is we are never out of God’s sight or mind. He knows everything about us, everything there ever is to know. We are so important to Him, the God of all, that He knows every last detail about our lives, from the number of hairs on our head to the dreams we only see in our heads.
The Truth
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
The truth is we have purpose. We weren’t put here to simply live for ourselves, to wander around aimlessly. We have a purpose, you have a purpose. The Lord has a plan for your life, He offers goodness and peace; a future and something to hope for.
We all want our children to understand their value, their true self-worth. But, we want them to focus on the truth. The truth is we aren’t good or wonderful, on our own. The truth is our value lies in Christ and who He is. When we help our children refocus their thinking, removing their eyes off themselves and putting them on Christ, they will see a true reflection of what they are worth. They were created by a loving God who sent His Son to die for them, calls them His own, loves them so much He knows everything about them, and has a plan for their lives.
When we start to see ourselves through the eyes of Christ, we see a true reflection of what we are: priceless.
Your Turn!: Share with us your favorite Bible verse which helps remind you of these simple truths!
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A Homeschool Mom 
John 3:16-17 would have to be the “go-to” that reminds me of the value we have in Christ. As a Homeschool fam. we’ve been reading through Lacey Sturm’s ‘The Reason’ and both mid-senior school girls are/have read Lisa Terkurst’s, ‘Uninvited’. Both books cover rejection, self-confidence, self-worth, negative self-talk and how we value God, ourselves and our neighbour.
Apart from the gender difference, Lacey’s story is full of things I relate you and am using that to steer our high school discussions in the direction of how people deal with lack of self-worth, dysfunctional situations etc.
I chose this instead of sitting down and watching the much talked about ”13 Reasons Why” on Netflix, in order to encourage awareness and discussion about the same topics. Lacey’s experience and how she uses her music to express a lot of that journey, combines to make a far better engaging point, one that is saturated in Grace.
It’s not sugar coated, but is on a level that carefully promotes healthy discussion about how we feel about ourselves in the light of how others have mistreated us.
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“Uninvited” is a personal favorite here as well. An excellent read!
Great job on finding a preferable alternative to “13 Reasons Why”. There has been much media buzz on this series, but after hearing another teen’s retelling, I am glad we’ve chosen to steer clear of it.
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