In our doctrine of spiritual self esteem last time we concluded with the principle that Genetic and environmental handicaps may be an excuse or an incentive for the weak, but they never cause the failure. The source of failure is always volition. Temptation may be a motivation, but volition is always the source of sin.
The portfolio of invisible assets replaces any genetic, environmental, or even volitional handicaps of the past. The believer in spiritual self-esteem recognizes this and acquires a personal sense of destiny that overrides all past failures and feelings of inadequacy.
People with feelings of inadequacy inevitably make wrong applications of right doctrine.
By the time the believer attains spiritual self-esteem, all of the shadows of genetic, environmental and volitional handicaps have been dispelled by the doctrinal viewpoint of spiritual self-esteem. Heb 10:38;
This means that no believer can advance to maturity while at the same time they are complaining about genetics, environment, or any function of self-pity related to the consequences of bad decisions that were made in the past.
The believer with spiritual self-esteem no longer blames God, other people, or environment for past failures. Believers in spiritual self-esteem assume their own responsibilities in the light of the Word of God and as a result live with Paul in Phil 3:13-14; by,"forgetting those things which are behind," and they keep on moving toward the "mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Since past failure is not an issue, the believer with spiritual self-esteem advances to spiritual maturity without regard to any handicap of genetics or environment that are no longer an issue in life because they are living with reference to their new identity. 2Cor 5:17;
This means that spiritual self- esteem is the point where believers no longer have any feelings of inadequacy, nor any feelings of human self-confidence because their confidence is based entirely upon the standard of reference of the Word of God.
Their life is viewed is through the revelation of Bible Doctrine Phil 4:12-13;
Spiritual self-esteem therefore, solves the problems related to fear. Paul describes this in 2Tim 1:7, "For God has not given us a lifestyle of fear, but of power (from the spiritual life) and of love (virtue-love), and of sound judgment (spiritual self-esteem)."
People are always afraid. If they have something, they're afraid they'll lose it. If they don't have something, they're afraid they'll never get it. This is how people live. No matter what our circumstances because we are finite we live in insecurity. Wealthy people are just as afraid as poor people.
We must learn that security in life is not related to the things of this life. Security comes only from the Bible doctrine in your soul, because the Lord is our security.
As we have learned in previous studies, the more you surrender to fear, the more things you fear. To the extent you surrender to fear, you increase the power of fear in your life. The more things that acquire the power to cause you fear, the greater your retreat from spiritual self-esteem.
Fear is an emotional sin. Cowardice and fear is lack of thinking under pressure. Fear means you cannot think or reason properly because of emotion.
Fear is lack of spiritual self-esteem. To the extent that there is fear is the extent that one has not attained spiritual self-esteem. John describes this in 1John 4:18a, "Fear does not exist in virtue-love, but mature virtue-love expels or drives out fear, for fear causes self-induced misery."
Fear originates from the volition of the soul. Therefore it is self induced misery, self-torture, self-punishment. If you are frightened, afraid, or disturbed, it comes from you not from anyone else.
1John 4:18b; "In fact, the person who is afraid has not been matured by means of virtue-love."
Courage, as a function of spiritual self-esteem, is thinking doctrine under pressure. Fear is an emotion that comes from the lack of recall of doctrine when under pressure. Prov 29:25; "The fear of man provides a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be promoted."
We see from this that spiritual self-esteem solves the problem of emotion. When spiritual self-esteem puts emotion in its proper place, this brings happiness and tranquility into life.
Metabolized doctrine is the only source of true happiness. Jer 15:16; Emotion only contributes to true happiness when it is subordinate to doctrine that is circulating in the thinking.
Spiritual self-esteem follows the policy of doctrinal conceptualism because it is thinking in terms of the categories, principles and rationales of metabolized doctrine that results in having the ability to make the correct application from the correct doctrine.
Emotion cannot think, rationalize, reason, or evaluate any situation from the doctrinal viewpoint. This means that under the protocol plan of God our emotions are never a guide for our motives, thoughts, decisions, or actions.
Unrestrained emotion causes hypersensitivity that is one of the manifestations of arrogance. When people feel inadequate for any reason, they become hypersensitive and take things the wrong way.
They lose their sense of humor. They want you to speak only things that flatter them. If you say anything else, their insecurity immediately shows through their hypersensitivity.
Emotions are not tools for cognition, nor are they a reference for life. We must learn to distinguish between emotional experience and the renovation of the thinking from doctrine that results in the subordination of the emotion to intellect.
Thinking is always a cause and emotion is always an effect.
Spiritual self-esteem requires cognitive self-assertiveness, perception and application of doctrine. Until we reach spiritual self-esteem, most of our applications are wrong. Even mature believers, like Job and Eliphaz make wrong application of doctrine.
The believer who is emotional and frightened is a loser because he has no renovation of the thinking from doctrine, no doctrinal conceptualism, no cognitive self-confidence and no spiritual self-esteem and as a result wanders around in a maze of fear and feelings of insecurity.
The cosmic believer acts on impulse without thinking because there is no inner stability from spiritual self esteem and as a result is constantly subverted by fear, worry and anxiety.
Because of it's doctrinal viewpoint, spiritual self-esteem never feels threatened by any situation in life. Many people feel threatened and this feeling of insecurity motivates them to try to control others. This is because they lack spiritual self- esteem.
There is no excuse for any believer to have inordinate ambition, inordinate competition, or need to control others because God is our source, people and circumstances are not.