2. Stand firm on Gods promises When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for all our sins.

We do not need to pay fo r our own sins because His sacrifice was once for all. We simply need to repent and believe. Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit o ffered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead t o death, so that we may serve the living God! Hebrews 10:10 We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once fo

r all. He extends this forgiveness to us by gracenot by our own merit. It is a free gift that we cannot earn, but simply receive by faith when we repent. Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this not from yourselve s, it isthe gift of Godnot by works, so that no one can boast. We need to remember these truths. It doesnt matter what we feel because wearent sa ved by our emotions. We are cleansed from sin by Gods actions. Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, becau sethrough Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3. See ourselves as valuable in the church The Bible says that all Christians are valuable to God. God has prepared a role for each one of us to play in His church. We are like parts of the body that fun ction together in different ways. Romans 12:3-8 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "B ecause I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reas on cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to thebody," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were aneye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact G od has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet,"I don t need you!" On the contrary, those part s of the body that seem to be weaker areindispensable, and the parts that we thi nk are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpres entable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no s pecial treatment. But God has combined the members of the

body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there shou

ld be nodivision in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for e ach other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honor ed, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 4. See ourselves as valuable to God Apart from our usefulness in the church, God loves us simply for who we are. Ast he author Philip Yancey writes, There is nothing we can do to make God love us mo re,and nothing we can do to make God love us less. God loves us as a Father. We a re Hisspecial, unique creation, whose purpose is to live in close fellowship wit h Him. Luke 15:11-20 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property be tween them."Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set of f for a distant countryand there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he be gan to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country , who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with th e pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything."When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say toh im: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to becalled your son; make me like one of your hired men. So he got up and went to his father."But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and wa s filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him a nd kissed him. 5. Accept our shortcomings We need to realize that only Jesus was sinless. We all fall from time to time, b ut by Gods grace we can get up again. Paul realized that his weaknesses were actu allyopportunities for God to show His power. We should accept that we cannot ove rcome our weaknesses on our own, but instead wait on the Lord for His strength. 2 Corinthians 12:9 Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christs p ower may rest on me. 6. Respond to correction or accusation with love and forgiveness Invariably, someone will say something to us that could make us feel guilty or c ondemned. Maybe they are warning us out of love, or exaggerating our sin out of spite.Whatever the reason, we need to respond in the right way. We should imitat e Jesus, whoforgave those who condemned Him to death on the cross. When we can r espond tocorrection or accusation in this way, we will close the door to Satans w ork in our hearts. 7. Leave the past behind

Christians do not need to be burdened with their past sins once they have repent edand made restitution. God has removed our sins from us and does not remember t hem anylonger. Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions fr om us. Discussion Questions 1.Have you had experiences with low self-esteem?2.What are some of the accusatio ns that Satan made against you?3.How has God assured you of your worth and His l ove?4.Why do you think it is important for your self-esteem to respond to critic ism withlove and forgiveness?