Charles Spurgeon on Self-Esteem

There is really the timeless truth in the Bible that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5).  The problem of this "self-esteem" is that it really makes a person too proud of themselves.  I felt that problem when I started relying on what God has entrusted to me rather than fully relying on God.  It is just like how David and Solomon fell down when both men of God started to rely on themselves.  Remember that David's backsliding happened when he was already an established king and Solomon backslid severely in his older years.

As wise King Solomon wrote his repentance of his horrible backsliding in Ecclesiastes, he declared in Ecclesiastes 2:15 saying, "Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity."  It is hard to believe that Solomon the great man who wrote Proverbs and the Song of Solomon would soon fall into such a terrible backsliding.  He knew he should not desire many wives nor marry with the heathen but he did.  It was only until later that he realizes that he had horribly backslid resulting to him writing the Book of Ecclesiastes.  Even a Christian can be a victim of this deadly doctrine of loving one's self.

The more I reread the Book of Ecclesiastes, the more I think about how Solomon may have lifted himself so high for the wisdom God entrusted to him.  This mistake also happened to King Uzziah that when he went haughty, he trespassed the Holy of Holies and became a leper.  Samson when he started relying too much on his strength than the one who provided him strength ended up tangled with the danger of Delilah.  David when he got overconfident of his past victories was defeated in a single night in bed with Bathsheba.  Abraham who was a man of faith also fell into the seriousness of adultery with Hagar.  Peter who said he would not deny his Lord Jesus ended up denying Him three times.  All these facts show how pride can destroy any Christian at a certain moment in time.

The Christian needs to remember that they are no one without God.  When it comes to salvation and sanctification, it is by God's grace.  Ephesians 2:8-10 shows the pattern of the Christian life is all about the grace of God.  Christians do good works not because of their own selves but it is the result of God's grace.  Titus 2:11-14 shows that the power against sin is still the grace of God at work.  It is not about me, myself and I but rather Christianity is all about doing what is right only by God's grace and an attitude of gratitude.  That is why Christians have no right whatsoever to feel so good about themselves towards the unsaved because they were once unsaved themselves.