No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:37 (NLT)
We’ve been talking over the past few days about the effects of fear. Today, let’s look at how it can cause us to hold a false self-image.
Judges chapter 6 provides a great example. Gideon was secretly threshing grain on the floor of his family’s winepress, hidden from his enemies. Suddenly, an angel appeared and announced, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” (Judges 6:12, NLT).
Shocked, Gideon countered the angel’s comment because he viewed himself as the bottom of the barrel. You see, fear causes us to believe lies. Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV) says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
However, incredible change came over Gideon once he began to see himself how God did. Fear fell away as he became an excellent warrior, chasing down enemies and winning great victories in battle. In fact, Gideon later captured two Midianite kings who described him as resembling a king’s son (Judges 8:18). What a difference!
You see, it doesn’t matter how you look to anybody else—your future hinges on how you see yourself. So, if you struggle with a broken self-image, how do you correct it?
According to Romans 12:2, you need to consistently renew your mind in God’s Word and believe what God says about you. For example, God says we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), royalty (1 Peter 2:9) and precious sons and daughters to Him (1 John 3:1).
Gideon’s confidence in God helped him finally see himself the way God did, and he went from weak to warrior. Meditate on how God sees you, and you’ll be amazed at how the true self-image will change your life.