The Power of Self Worth – Thriving from the Inside Out
Healthy self worth will allow you to thrive in every area of your life!
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be thriving in all areas of their life and it looks like they are succeeding no matter what circumstances they face. I want to let you in on a little secret: They understand the power of self worth.
I believe that everything we do comes from our level of self-worth. If we don’t think we are worthy of success, then we will shy away from any successes that comes our way.
| “We do not rise to the level that we think is possible. We fall to the level we think we are worthy of.” Jamie Kern Lima |
This quote by Jamie Kern Lima has really stood out to me ever since I heard her say it. And I know it to be true from what I have experienced in my own life.
I know that sometimes in Christian circles there is a belief that discussing our value, identity, and worth is self-serving.
What does God say about the topic of self worth?
What I believe about God is based on scripture, and on who I know God to be from my relationship with Him. Religion will try and rob you of intimate relationship with God and tell you it is about your works and your doing, but you will never truly know God unless you walk with Him in deep relationship.
Ephesians 2:10– For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
When I think about knowing who I am and my identity in Christ, I do not think it is self serving to have a healthy level of self worth. When I think about having a low level of self worth and that somehow is supposed to be more righteous to think negatively about myself, it’s like going up to an artist and telling them that the artwork they created is awful and has no value. That would be so degrading to the one who painstakingly created that masterpiece.
That is how hurtful I believe it is to God when we walk around here on earth thinking poorly of our selves. Once we fully understand that we are valuable just because we are created in the image of God then we become unstoppable!
Jeremiah 1:5– Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
This scripture always amazes me. I cannot fathom that our God is so big and yet so loving that He knows each one of us, and He knew us even before we were formed in our mother’s womb. And this is not a casual knowing, He knows every detail about us!
I know that by nature, we are selfish beings, and we can pursue selfish desires if we want to because God gave us free will. This is not what I am talking about, what I am talking about is having a healthy level of self worth and a truthful understanding of who God created us to be, and from that place is where we serve others.
Here are a few signs that might mean you are struggling with low self-worth:
- If you reach a goal and feel fulfilled for a while, and then after the initial excitement wears off, you feel empty inside again until you reach another level of success.
- Feeling inferior or unworthy compared to others
- Difficulty accepting compliments
- Oversensitivity to criticism
Your worth comes from the beliefs about yourself
So then that begs the question, how do our beliefs get formed?
Here is a quick overview:
Through scientific research we know that when you encounter situations in life, a thought fires from your prefrontal cortex (the logical thinking part of your brain). Then nano seconds later an emotion fires from your limbic system (the emotional center of your brain).
The situation stays neutral until a thought and emotion is attached to it.
Let’s say when you were young maybe you had a friend that said something unkind to you. After that happened you had a thought and an emotion fire very quickly. Your thought may have been, She doesn’t like me and your emotion may have been anger. And this is where your beliefs are formed. The belief you may have formed from that incidence might have been “something must be wrong with me.“
After that, anytime a similar instance happens for you it will begin to drive the belief deeper and you begin to believe it as truth. When this happens often enough your brain will store it in subconscious memory.
Your brain loves patterns, so it is always looking for patterns. It does not know if a thought is right or wrong, true or false. It simply sees patterns and stores those in subconscious memory once it has been repeated often enough. This is how wrong beliefs get put on automation in your subconscious.
90-95% of your daily decisions and actions come from your subconscious
Back to our example: if you have a belief that “something must be wrong with me” you are probably going to experience feelings of unworthiness and find it difficult to accept compliments from others. It is probably showing up in your life like procrastination, perfectionism, etc.
But now that you have that awareness, you get to change your beliefs which in turn allows you to live from a place of healthy self worth.
It is time for you to thrive from the inside out!
