Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Do you like who you are? When you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? Or do you wish you were a little taller or a little stronger or a bit thinner? Do you like yourself or do you struggle with feelings of inferiority?
Today, I'd like to talk with you about three keys from the Bible. To develop a positive, healthy, biblical self-image. Stick around. When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
someone unique and wonderful or someone who doesn't measure up. Distorted mirrors trap us in feelings of inferiority. I'm Dave Druy, and today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram shows us how to break free from low self-esteem and discover our true identity. In our series, Experience Breakthrough, we're learning how to stop feeling confined by life's biggest barriers. Today's barrier might be the most personal of all, the way we see ourselves.
Here's Chip with his message on how to overcome inferiority and low self-image. Did you know that according to Personal observation. It is almost impossible for a human being to walk by a mirror. And not look at themselves? Mm-hmm.
Did you know that when you are giving A photo to someone? And their picture is in it with a group of people that the very first person that they look at is. themselves Did you know they did a study of five and six year olds, and they found that how a child views him or herself is a higher determinant of success? Then even their IQ? Did you realize that how you view yourself?
Mm. is pivotal in the quality of your life. and the quality of your relationships. It's what I call mere madness. We're all involved in it every day.
We're all asking and answering questions.
Sometimes it's physically, and we look in the mirror, but more often it's emotional and psychologically as we look into people's eyes and we have these thoughts as we look into the mirrors of life. And some of the questions we're asking are Who am I? Where do I belong? Do I fit? Am I okay?
Am I competent? Am I a somebody? Am I significant?
Okay. What are other people going to think of me?
So let me ask you, when you look at the mirror, what What do you think? When you look into the mirror, what do you see? Do you see someone that is unique, beautiful, wonderful? Full of potential. Or do you look in the mirror and say, oh, I wish I was a little taller, a little shorter?
A little thinner. A little stronger. When you walk around in your world, what are the messages that you say to yourself? Do you look at other people and say, boy, I'm glad they're the way they are, and I'm glad who I am? Or do you kind of unconsciously say, they all look happy, they've got it together?
They had lots of friends. I don't think I'd fit in. I don't think I'm worth very much. I hope no one asked me anything because I'm sure I don't have much to say. If I really got to know them, I know they wouldn't like me.
Do any of those thoughts ever float through your mind? They do for most of us. See The problem with the mirror madness is that there's more distorted mirrors out there. Then there are good mirrors. And distorted mirrors will destroy our lives because a distorted mirror doesn't tell you the truth about who you are.
A distorted mirror It gives you a picture of what's not true. Have you ever gone down to the boardwalk and gone through like one of those fun houses or at a carnival? And they have the section where the weird mirrors, you know, with all the bends in them? Those are real funny. Except, do you know what the reality is?
The reality is For most of us all of our lives, through our culture, through the media, through multiple relationships and family, we have distorted mirrors that have been telling us stuff about us that is totally untrue. Can you imagine living if the only mirror, what if there was never a real true mirror, and you walked around looking like you do, but you thought in your mind, I am one foot tall and I'm nine feet wide.
Now the reality wouldn't change, but if you thought that way about yourself Just imagine how you would buy clothes. Imagine certain places you would never go. I mean the beach would be out for you. Yeah. Amen.
Let me give you three distorted mirrors. The first is the appearance mirror. We are shot through with it, especially in this country. It says, my value depends on how I look.
So we find pretty people and we give them millions of dollars. We give them all kinds of makeup, wind machines, and multiple surgeries so they fit this ideal. And then we all try and be like that person. It's how you look. Second distorted mirror is the performance mirror.
My value depends on what I can do. You gotta be good. You gotta be successful. You gotta be a great athlete. You gotta be a great student.
You gotta be a great artist. You gotta be a great this. You gotta be a great that. You gotta be able to do, do, do, do, do. And so your whole life, your whole value revolves around your performance.
If you do well, you're great. If you don't do well, you're a loser. Third distorted mirror is the status mirror. My value depends on what other people think of me. And so we dress, talk, drive, buy, go to certain groups, don't go to certain groups.
Eat certain things, don't eat certain things, why? Cause it matters what everybody thinks. Those three distorted mirrors Are you sure? Tools that will destine you and destine me to feel inferior. Because the rules always change, don't they?
It's a no-win situation. We're talking about how to overcome inferiority and low self-esteem. My thesis is: until we see ourselves as God sees us, we are destined. Not maybe. We are destined to feel inferior.
Until you and until I can see in my mind's eye, then can sink down into my emotions how God looks at me as the true mirror of who I really am, that my value doesn't Depend on how good I am. My value doesn't depend on how I look, and my value doesn't depend on what other people think. Until you get three of those things. You are destined to feel inferior.
Now before I go on, let me highlight something. What I've said so far, most of you, you haven't nodded because it would be embarrassing. But in your hearts, most of you have been going, Yeah, man, that's right, man. I don't like him very much. I mean, real down deep.
But there's a small percentage of you. And you wouldn't say this either, because it would be more embarrassing. is sort of like I like me. In fact, I wish most people were like me. In fact, the world would be a lot better like me.
And you look in the mirror and you say, this. is how people I love. And when you go to work, everyone's slower than you, and you're thinking, man, if they could just get with the ball game. And these kinds of people often project ultimate confidence. And like they've really got it together.
And can I tell you something? Everyone feels inferior. Inferiority just wears multiple Masks. Paul Tourney in a book that literally transformed my life. The book had one thesis and then the rest were stories.
He's a Swiss psychologist of many years ago. The book's out of print, but the book was called The Strong and the Weak. Thesis of the book. Every person is desperately inadequate. and insecure.
And all of us, as human beings, will either express that with strong reactions or weak responses.
So we're all insecure. We all have this feeling that something's wrong, that we're inferior. And so some people will be shy, withdrawn, low self-esteem. I'm not worth much. No one wants to hear me.
I probably wouldn't do very well. I don't want to try because I'd probably fail. I know they won't like me. to cover their insecurity. But there's another group of people who are just as desperately insecure Who says, man, I got it together.
I'm going to be on top of this. They're powerful. They're aggressive. Hey, get out of my way. And you know what the strong things are doing?
covering the same insecurity. I know I was that person growing up. Arrogant. Wow. Pushy.
Because I was so afraid if anyone saw who I was really like inside, I knew they'd reject me. You're listening to Living on the Edge. More from Chip Ingram in just a moment. But first, if today's teaching is resonating with you, don't keep it to yourself. You can easily share this message with friends and family by visiting livingonthege.org.
There, you'll find not only today's program, but an entire collection of biblical resources designed to help you experience breakthrough in every area of life. It's all available at livingonthege.org.
Well, let's continue with Chip's message. Here's what I want to do today: I want to tell you. that you do not have to be in bondage any longer. to the distorted mirrors of our world. But you can do three things.
Three keys God's going to give us today.
Now it's going to be a lifetime of working it out. But you can get the data today. There's three keys to getting what I call a healthy biblical identity or a healthy self-concept. The first one has to do with knowledge. You must get God's view of you.
You've got to see yourself from God's perspective. It's knowledge. Remember what Jesus said? You will know the truth, and the truth will set you. Good job.
If you don't know the truth about you, you'll believe lies. But knowing the truth doesn't change your life. The second key is you must believe God's view is true. See, you can know it, but think, oh, that's like for everybody else, but not me. And then third, You must discover the you that's true.
You've got to experience, you've got to get involved in some risky, out-of-your-comfort zone relationships where you actually experience through people being deeply loved and deeply affirmed. And we're going to talk about how to do that.
So now, by the way, what I've given you today, you can do a Bible study for the next week or two. I'm going to just highlight, because what I want you to do is get big picture. I'm going to give you five reasons why. You are very significant. regardless of what the world may or may not say.
You're significant first because you are unique. Jot that down. Genesis 1:27 says, You're made in the image of God. Psalm 139. 13 and 14 say, For you, God, created my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. You're unique.
You are not one in a million. Your DNA is different than any other person on the face of the earth. God created you uniquely. That makes you significant. You know, it's like an original piece of artwork.
You know, there's an original piece and there's prints. God doesn't have any prints, you're an original.
So you're significant. Second, You're significant because you are loved. Jeremiah 31, 3. It says, The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving kindness. Because of some things in my background, I have a hard time with that.
The performance trap is mine. I feel loved when I do well. And I feel not loved when I don't do well. That's a lie. I have been working at letting it soak into my mind, seep into my heart, and realize God loves me unconditionally, not because of anything I ever have done or I ever will do, but because He is creator, I am creation, and I am the object.
I am the object of his love and compassion. See, God doesn't love somebody somewhere out there, He loves you. He's totally committed to you. He knows your situation, your struggle, your hurts, your depression, your relational chaos, your dysfunctional background. And he looks at it all and he says, I love you.
And I want to be close to you. Third, you're significant because you are valuable. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? Who is in you? Whom you have received from God, you are not your own.
You have been bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. See, we always evaluate things by what they cost, right?
Now I would never want to be a slave of any kind in any situation. But if I were a slave, And they were selling us? I'd like someone. To walk up and say, Yeah. I'll give you five Million dollars for Ingram.
Because if I'm going to be a slave, I want to be a valuable one. I mean, I don't want someone to walk up and say, hey, I'll give you $5.95 for him. I don't think he could lift a thing. You know the fact of the matter is though? We're all slaves.
Before you trusted Christ, the Bible pictures you and pictures me as being in the slave market of sin. bound by desires and lusts that we can't break out of. And the Lord walked in as he saw you on the block in the slave market of sin, and he says, I'll take this one, this one, this one. No, you know what? I'll take them all.
Price tag. The death of my Son, the blood of Jesus paid on the cross as your substitute, that's how valuable you are to God. And you know, we get up tight, like, oh, God doesn't care about me, and won't he show me about what's going to happen in the future? And what am I going to do about this? He that spared not his own son.
How will he not with him? freely. Give you all things. Our problem is not that God doesn't love us. Our problem is we don't believe He loves us.
Fourth. You are significant not only because you're unique, loved, and valuable, you are secure. Things that last have a lot of value. Paper plates aren't worth much in my home. You eat them all, they're done.
It's priceless heirlooms. They're gonna last. That's what's valuable. You want to know how long every believer in Jesus Christ is going to last? How secure?
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13, it says, And you also were included in Christ. Speaking of believers, people who have come to Christ.
Well, when did this happen? When you heard the word of truth. The gospel of your salvation. Having believed at a point in time in our life, we need to come to where we believe in Christ, that He died in our place, and we receive Him as our Savior. Having believed, notice this: you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
You're secure. The word picture here meant a lot to people when this was written because in Roman days they would put a seal on a document. You know, the wax, and then the emperor would put his ring on it. No one could break that document except the power. and the authority of the emperor.
God says when you trust in Jesus Christ and accept the free gift of salvation, you are sealed, but not with wax and not with a ring, but it's with the authority of God Himself. He seals you and marks you off by the Holy Spirit. In fact, the scripture says that the Holy Spirit is a down payment, or literally it's earnest money, to remind you of how valuable you are and that every promise God ever made to you in Scripture is going to be true. People put I've heard of people, they're putting their house on the market and they get two or three bids, they're getting more than they're asking. And as they do that, what do you ask people to do?
To put down earnest money. You know, you put $50,000 down on a house, you're pretty interested. You know what God has done? He's put down earnest money. He's placed the Holy Spirit in you as a believer as a deposit to let you know He's committed.
And you're secure.
Now wait a second. Do you really think this way about yourself? Do you believe that you're loved, that you're secure, that you're valuable, that you're unique? Let me give you one more. According to God, when He looks at you, not the person next to you, we're talking about you.
You are indispensable. Indispensable. Ephesians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul is talking about the church and how God put it together. And the church isn't a building, it's just a place where anytime believers are gathered, that's the church. I encourage you to take those passages and do a little Bible study and let it sink.
Down through your mind into your heart. First, you need to understand faith is built on God's Word. Hebrews 10:17, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. I do not understand this. I don't understand it, but I'm telling you that when you expose yourself to the scripture, when you hear the word of God, when you read the word of God, when you put Christian music on that has content and lyrics and truth.
Faith grows. Secondly, though, it's not enough just to be exposed to the scriptures, it grows when you renew your mind. Romans 12, 2 tells us that don't be conformed any longer. To distorted mirrors. Don't be conformed any longer to this world, but be transformed how?
Metamorphosized from within, changed by the renewing of your mind. That your life or your lifestyle could demonstrate what the will of God is: that it's good, that it's acceptable, that it's perfect. The key is the renewal of your mind. See one of the things, you know, I've got some real problems with the whole positive thinking movement. I mean, they promised pie in the sky, you think it, think and grow rich, think and do this, think and do that.
A lot of that is thinking, buy their books and they get rich is how it works. But there's a tremendous kernel of truth in the positive thinking movement. You know what it is? You are what you think. You are what you eat.
and you are what you think. Whatever you think, eventually, Because that's scriptural. Proverbs 23, 7: As a man or a woman thinks in her heart, his heart, so he or she becomes. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we're in our series Experience Breakthrough. Today, Chip revealed three keys to developing a healthy biblical identity.
Chip has one more crucial point to share, so please stay with us. The distorted mirrors Chip described today, appearance, performance, status, they're everywhere in our culture. And breaking free from their lies requires something more than a one-time decision. It takes consistent exposure to God's truth, allowing Scripture to gradually reshape how we see ourselves. That's exactly what Chip's free devotional, Psalms of Hope, is designed to do.
Over 10 days, you'll explore Psalm 1, Psalm 15, and Psalm 23, passages that speak directly to finding your identity in God rather than the world's constantly shifting standards. The format is straightforward. Chip teaches for 10 minutes each day, then you spend 10 minutes letting that truth soak into your heart through prayer and meditation. Get Psalms of Hope completely free by going online to livingontheedge.org. Just search for Psalms of Hope and begin today.
You know, every resource we offer, including this devotional, exists because listeners like you believe in the mission of Living on the Edge. When you give, you're helping people around the world discover their true identity in Christ. Would you join with us today? Support this ministry at livingonthege.org or mail your gift to livingonthege P.O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024.
You can also call us at 888-333-6003. And we've added something new to the Living on the Edge podcast, the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast.
Now you can hear Chip's complete unedited sermons as they were originally preached. Just subscribe to the Living on the Edge podcast on your favorite podcast app.
Well, now here's Chip. Jesus was standing before a group of people. They had just believed him. and received eternal life. And he said to that group, who had just believed on him, if you abide in my words, You will know the truth.
And the truth will You can finish it for me, can't you? The truth will set you free. Free. What we're really talking about today is the power of the truth to set you free. And rarely is there an area that's more sensitive, not just in the Christian community, but in the world at large, of people seeing themselves through faulty mirrors.
You know there are beautiful, beautiful people, wonderful people, and they look in the mirror and they don't see a beautiful or wonderful or caring or loving person. They're looking at their lives through warped mirrors and they don't like themselves. And there's a lot of people that are taking drugs. at abusing alcohol, And are in codependent relationships, and who are workaholics, and who are desperately, desperately trying to be free and trying to be a someone. but the distorted mirrors of their past have warped their thinking.
Jesus says that when we know the truth, The truth can set us free. And in our next broadcast, we're going to talk about getting the kind of knowledge from Scripture so that happens. We're going to talk about how you grow in your faith so it actually occurs, how your mind is renewed, and then specific steps of experience where God can make true in you what is already true of you. But today I want to close out our broadcast by talking very honestly and personally with some of you that have warped mirrors. You know the warp mirrors are one.
My value depends on how I look, the appearance warp mirror. You know, we are so flooded with information and the magazine racks and T V and commercials that, you know, if a gal's not five foot six and a hundred and five pounds And you know what? That's pretty skinny. But, you know, on those magazine racks they make those people look so pretty and so beautiful. We got a whole generation of young women who look in the mirror and who are beautiful but think they're fat.
And we've got this whole eating disorder thing that has occurred because of faulty mirror. I have a very close friend. She is just. a great friend of our family and a friend of our church. And as Teresa was doing some teaching in the life of her church, got to know this gal.
And I mean she's drop dead gorgeous. I mean, you know what I mean? I mean, she ought to be on a magazine somewhere. And you know what her biggest struggle is in her heart? She thinks she's ugly.
I mean, it's just like so far from reality, but her appearance and her value is dependent on Fauldy Mirrors. How about you? Are you preoccupied with how you look, and are you one of those guys that has to lift so many weights and drink all the protein drinks, not because you really want to be healthy and strong, but you desperately want to be approved? Are you a woman that is just dieting, dieting, dieting, and you're a Christian and you love God, but down deep you don't like you? Can I tell you there's a better way?
God made you uniquely. You're loved, you're valued, you're significant. But you must get the snapshot of His Word. in your heart and life. not the snapshot of the world.
you know something um I encourage you, if this is an area our few minutes here today is not going to bring about the long-term transformation. If you really struggle here, I encourage you to find a good Christian counselor, a pastor, a friend. Get in Psalm 139 and read it over and say, Lord, will you help me see me? The way you see me. Begin a journey of seeing the truth about you.
so you can be free. How do we renew our minds with God's truth? I'm Dave Druy, inviting you to find out Monday on Living on the Edge. Yeah. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.
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