Whom Do You Love?

1 John 2:16
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

We have long been told that a child with high self-esteem will do better in school, get into less trouble and is less likely to smoke or get into drugs. However, after examining the results of a large number of scientific studies that made such claims, independent researchers have come to a very different conclusion.

There have been a large number of scientific studies published on the subject of self-esteem. Researchers went through these studies to evaluate the actual results of self-esteem studies. First, they concluded that having a high self-esteem will not improve a student’s grades in school or in job performance. This is true whether the subjects naturally had high self-esteem or went through programs designed to improve their self-esteem. The researchers also confirmed what is generally known – that success at work or in school can build self-esteem. They further found that those with so-called “good self-esteem” were not less likely to smoke, drink alcohol, get involved with drugs, or get into school-yard fights. On the contrary, they found that high self-esteem makes it more likely that some will engage in school-yard bullying, while others will stand up to the school-yard bully.

Earthly wisdom does not lead to godliness. In God’s perfect wisdom, He has given us our identity as His own children through the redeeming work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer:
I thank You, Father, that You have given me my identity as Your redeemed child through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Notes:
Science News, 6/7/03, p. 365, “Findings puncture self-esteem claims.”