Biblical Self-Esteem Bible Study

Before doing this Bible study, please read the 1-minute introduction Whose Praise are we seeking?

It explains that we live in the age of self-esteem, not God-esteem. Sadly, this worldly emphasis has spawned false teachings in the church. Instead of seeking to please God, many Christians are seeking to please themselves.

What do the passages below tell us about our purpose and priorities as Christians?

Luke 9:23-25: Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 

This passage sums up discipleship in a nutshell. It is what our Savior did and what we are called to do as well. I encourage you to take time to read some or all of the devotions in the Biblical Self-Esteem collection, especially Research Shows the Harm of Self-esteem.

Galatians 5:16, 24: So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh....Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Some people might read this passage and think it is only talking about immoral sexual desires. Not so. Wanting to esteem ourselves is also a desire of the flesh. 

1 John 2:15-17: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

The pride of life certainly includes pride in ourselves a thing promoted by self-esteem teachings. See The Glory is God's, Not Ours.

Matthew 6:31-33: So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

While this passage doesn't directly address self-esteem, it tells us that first and foremost we should be seeking to do those things which please God, making God's desires and God's glory our first priority. We shouldn't be seeking "our kingdom." 

And a promise follows this command, the promise that God will care for us when we seek Him first. We may not have everything we want. In fact, God doesn't promise we will always be well fed and warm (see Paul's words in Philippians 4:12). But we will always have Him (see Hebrews 13:5) and that is our greatest need.

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I encourage you to check out the Wisdom for Life Devotional. 

It contains 100 one-minute devotions to challenge, encourage, instruct, and inspire your love for God's Word. 

copyright 2015, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, updated 2023

Don't Give Me What I Deserve!

Before doing this Bible study, please read the 1-minute devotion Don't Give Me What I Deserve.

It encourages us to realize that knowing Christ should help us view life with gratitude. Forgiveness and salvation are the greatest gifts we can receive, and they are gifts we don't deserve. 

These passages can help us gain perspective:

Luke 12:15: Then [Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

In the verses following this passage (Luke 12:16-31), Christ shares a parable found only in Luke. It talks about a man who stores up all his riches only to die before he can enjoy them. The parable ends with this important warning: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” 

How can we be "rich toward God"?

Philippians 2:3-8: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 

When we focus on ourselves, it's natural to struggle with self-pity, pride, or entitlement. Thinking of others helps us overcome these sinful attitudes. And Jesus is the most wonderful example of humility and sacrifice.

Philippians 4:12-13: I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

True contentment comes through Christ.

copyright 2015, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, updated in 2023

Truth and Consequences: A Bible Study about David

Before doing this Bible study, please read the 1-minute devotion 3 Truths about Earthly Consequences.

It explains that God disciplines us and uses consequences to convict and correct us (Hebrews 12: 5-11; Galatians 6:7-8). But believers don't suffer eternal consequences because we are in Christ (Romans 6:23). 

The life of King David is an excellent study in forgiveness.

David committed serious sins even as a believer. 

The Prophet Nathan brought God's rebuke to David:

2 Samuel 12:7-14: Nathan said to David...Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ 11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.” 

Sometimes Christians falsely assume that God does not judge our sins because we are redeemed, but that's not true.  

verse 9: When we violate God's commands, we are "despising God's Word" and "doing evil in God's eyes." 

In Romans 6:1-2, Paul is shocked that some Christians have a casual attitude toward sin: "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"  

Verses 10-12: This was David's earthly consequence--"the sword would never depart from his house." Read the story of David's life and you will see that Nathan's words came true.

Verses 13-14: This is what sets David apart--his immediate admission of guilt without excuse or justification. This restores his relationship with God, but does not remove his earthly consequences. 

The Psalm David wrote after Nathan's rebuke:

Psalm 51: 3-4, 10-12, 17: I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge ... 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me ... 17My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 

David makes no excuses for his sins and admits he has offended God first and foremost. He has no resentment about his punishment, saying God is right to punish him. Then he asks for purity of heart and restoration of his relationship with the Lord.

David's Restored Relationship:

1 King 15:1-5: In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah ... 3 He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. 4Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

Because he sincerely repents, David restores his close walk with the Lord, and the Lord continues to honor him as a standard of godliness. When we acknowledge our sins, we can also restore our relationship with God....and nothing is more important.

copyright 2015, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, updated 2023
All Scripture NIV unless otherwise noted

Grasshoppers in the Faith

Before doing this study, please read the 1-minute introduction: Grasshopper Faith.

It explains how the majority of men who explored the Promised land came back and inspired fear and distrust in God's promises, claiming they were like grasshoppers compared to the people in the lands they were supposed to conquer. See Numbers 13.

This passage prompts me to ask myself if I'm living like a conqueror or a grasshopper when it comes to obstacles in my life.

1. What insights does this passage give about living as conquerors?

Romans 8:1-17: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 

8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.  

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 

17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 

Insights:

Romans 8:1-4: We are "legally" (i.e. eternally) under no condemnation because Christ has paid the price for our sins, so we can live as "more than conquerors" -- "according to the Spirit." 

5-8: The unbeliever lives "according to the flesh":

• he has his mind set on fleshly desires
• he is governed by death
• he is hostile to God
• he is unable to obey God's law (since true obedience begins in the heart). 
• he cannot please God

The characteristics above describe the 10 fearful, unbelieving leaders and the majority of people who followed them and lost their opportunity to conquer the Promised Land.

v.5-6, 9-17 describes the believer, the conqueror who lives in the realm of the Spirit (a proof of his salvation (v.9)

• has his mind on the Spirit's desires
• is governed by life and peace
• is heir to eternal life, a true son/daughter 
• has spiritual life here and now
• is no longer a slave to fear
• has the assurance of God's Spirit that he's saved
• shares in Christ's suffering and glory
• has an obligation to live according to the Spirit    

The characteristics above describe Moses, Joshua, and Caleb in the passage.

More than a conqueror:

Notice that being more than a conqueror comes with an important responsibility ("obligation") according to verse 8. This obligation is the subject of many Scripture passages and is well summed up in Philippians 2:12-13. Only God can produce the actual change in our hearts and lives to make us conquerors over sin, death, and fear, but we have an important role. We must submit to the Spirit and seriously seek to please Him instead of pleasing our fleshly fears. See also Ephesians 5:1-15.

copyright, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, updated in 2023