Chicken & Egg: Self-Esteem and Accomplishment

I recently read a quote that said something to this effect: Great accomplishments are the result of a healthy self-esteem, not the cause of it. I apologize to the sage who authored this thought but I can’t remember where I read it or who said it. Its truth nonetheless remains.

So often in our culture, we measure an individual’s worth by what they have accomplished. While this may at time be legitimate (as in a “value-added” approach to organizational life), it should never be the measure of the self.  Forgetting this truth undermines the inherent dignity that is the inalienable possession of every human being, and violates the covenant we profess in our baptism to “respect the dignity of every human being.”

It is necessary for us in Christian community, then, to work first and foremost to affirm and help individuals build self-esteem and self-respect.  This is not self-centered. Rather, it is the requisite for fulfilling one of the great commandments, “to love one’s neighbor as one’s self.”

Inwardly rooted self-esteem has its origin in the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of the Creator. To develop this kind of self-esteem requires not external affirmation (though that doesn’t hurt) but the discipline of spiritual practice. This practice requires that we live ever more consciously and intentionally as children of God. It will require us to accept ourselves as God sees us – redeemed and restored by his grace. This is the beginning.