In the business world, we always tried to add value to our workforce. We even hired a psychologist to meet with the staff weekly. 

Sometimes he would ask the staff to do a certain test so he could look at each person’s personality to determine if they held the right position. Seeing how people could perform better when they were moved to a position that suited their personality was amazing. 

Some of the tests were self-evaluations. You had to score yourself a mark out of 10 on how you saw yourself performing in the business. At that stage, I was the head of the company, and I must say, I didn’t score myself very high. 

Later, I had a lengthy discussion with the occupational psychologist about this negative assessment of myself. It was only later that I realised this unbalanced negative self-evaluation harmed my contributions to the business. 

Your self-perception shapes your reality. A person’s thoughts about themselves influence their ability to perform. Furthermore, these self-perceptions directly affect their emotional state. 

That really opened my eyes, and I realised that I was too hard on myself and that I should look at myself with kinder eyes. 

How often, when we hear the Word of God, do we feel accused, as if we’re failing to live up to it? We may feel too sinful and as though we’ve done too many wrong things to ever reach heaven. 

29Once you’re convinced that He is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children. 

Do you understand why I don’t feel so good about myself after reading such a text? I know Jesus is perfect, without flaw. He flawlessly lived out God’s will, every step of the way, here on earth. 

When I conduct a self-evaluation of how well I follow Jesus’s example on earth, I see the countless times I’ve fallen short and gone my own way. 

Then I don’t feel good about it. Then I quickly get a zero out of ten and my self-image as a child of God is lower than the floor. 

This has a negative influence on my actions. I feel as if I’m not good enough and I punish myself. I even pull a negative blanket over myself and then just want to lie in bed. I wonder if you sometimes feel that way too? 

But it’s so unnecessary to hold ourselves back like this. We have to remember we’re still growing. We need to give ourselves grace to sometimes make mistakes. 

Instead, let’s channel this negativity into positive energy, returning to the path each time we stray and striving anew to live as Jesus did. In time, we will walk more often than we stumble. 

Teks
1 John 2:24-29 

Reflection
How do you feel about your walk as a Christian?
Where do you still take wrong turns?
Where do you need to live more like Jesus? 

Prayer
Father, I know I sometimes don’t feel good about the way I live. Help me to live more like Jesus. Amen.