HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF?
 

A little boy went into a restaurant with his mother and father. When the waitress came, she looked at the little fellow and asked, "What will you have?" He replied, "I’ll have a hot dog." Quickly the mother intervened, "Bring him mashed potatoes and roast beef."
The waitress paid no attention to the mother, turned to the boy and said, "And what do you want on it?" The boy said, "I’ll have mustard and ketchup." When the waitress was gone, the little fellow pointed to the kitchen and said, "She thinks I’m real!"
A lot could be said about this story that deals with parenting and child development. But this may simply have reminded us of painful experiences in which we felt unrecognized, upappre-ciated or overlooked.
Some people quickly overcome such hurtful experiences, but an unfortunate series of such unhappy events can cause lingering feelings of inferiority.
How does one deal with passing or persistent feelings that others don’t see you as "real" or with prolonged periods of low self-esteem?
One way is the way of religious faith as revealed in the Bible. The Bible is the story of God’s quest for man. It illustrates the worth of every individual whether beggar, tax collector, fisherman, harlot or leper.
God is not willing that any should perish; the despaired and rejected, the "down and outs", the outcasts and the "have-nots" are shown to have great worth.
One young man, having found JESUS, explained his new feelings of self-esteem by saying, "I’m one of the King’s kids!" He had realized that he was "real" and had favour with GOD. The message of the Bible is clear:
Regardless of who we are, where we come from or what job we perform, we have inestimable worth to God!
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