Don't underestimate your value

Good News Reflection
Monday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
August 24, 2009

Today's Feast: Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Bartholomew.htm

Today's Readings:
Rev 21:9b-14
Ps 145:10-13, 17-18
John 1:45-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/082409.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_24.mp3

Don't underestimate your value

You are the bride of Christ, because you have wedded yourself to his love and have committed your life to him. Today's first reading contains what God showed John in a vision about you. You gleam with the splendor of God. Your radiance is like that of a precious stone. This is how God sees you!

Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves this way? Most people don't have a problem with pride, i.e., the prideful self-glorifying belief that "I am wonderful!" but a problem with low self esteem, which triggers prideful, self-centered attempts to seem better than we are. And we don't need to!

Sure, God knows our every short-coming and flaw and sin, but he also sees our radiant preciousness. If we could see that too, we wouldn't be afraid to face our flaws. But instead of listening to God tell us who we are, we believe the negative, short-sighted, limited perceptions that others have held about us. Intellectually, we may have disagreed with their assessments, but deep inside, the child we once were still blindly seeks their approval.

If you were to make two lists, one naming your faults and the other naming your good points, the fault category would be longer, wouldn't it? As a follower of Christ, it should be the opposite. You have Christ's Spirit within you!

How much time have you spent examining what is good in you? Let God teach you about how much he values you!

Like Nathanael (also called Bartholomew) said to Jesus in today's Gospel passage, "How do you know me?" God knows us exactly and intimately. We don't. He sees everything that's good in us, not just our sinfulness. He knows the good we're capable of doing if only we'd trust in our own goodness – because this goodness comes from his Holy Spirit.

How much do we radiate the splendor of God? We need to ask him to remove the blinders of low self esteem.

Low self esteem says that we are far from being who we're supposed to be. It also says that we will never get there. God, though, esteems us highly. The moment we chose to believe in the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, God esteemed us so highly that he called us saints! This is why both the Old and New Testaments refer to the people of God as saints. Do you think of yourself as a saint? Accept the fact that this is how God sees you.

To continue to live with low self esteem is like telling God, "You're wrong about me." How dare we contradict God? He says we gleam with his splendor!

© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
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