Reality Checks

Pinpoint the ways you may be sabotaging yourself by answering the following questions:

• What judgments do I make about myself that are, in fact, untrue? What's something wonderful about me that I've undervalued?
• How do I typically respond when someone brags about me? Is it hard for me to receive a compliment—and why?
• Do I fail to stick up for myself when someone challenges what I know to be true?

Yes.. it happen to me all the time... when someone who are brilliant, who brags a lot near me, i would chicken out and tell myself that i am so stupid and i am not and will not be abreast with them.. When its project time, i would be the one who struggle so much to get the job done, while some goes surfing the net, chatting online as their part has completed. I would be the one who burn nite oil, sacrificing my sleep to make sure my part is done on time... these goes on and on till i surrender and tell myself its all caused by my inability and how stupid i am in my work.. seems to be i cant do any good work...as i am not that good in the task... i spend so much time on it while other people can spend lesser time to get it done... more bugs to fix later even after testing few rounds...where do i go wrong? the conclusion is i am not that good in this field. It was a lie....

I have low self esteem, i dont feel like working, i am not excited about anything about work. Despite God's assurance that he is absolutely crazy about us, most of us cant believe he means us...

Paycheck, title, designer labels, or some other artificial yardstick gives us temporary entry into the world of The Accepted. But in our hearts, we know it isn't real. How do we find our way to the truth?

In the J.B. Phillips translation of the Bible, Romans 12:3 reads,

Try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all.

Before we can "hear" it, though, we have to identify the "dirty data" we've believed. We need to expose ways in which we've inadvertently contributed to the problem:

Comparison traps.
People around me at work are brilliant, able to achieve impossible task on time and there is no fear of not knowing how to work around the request.
For myself, apart from ASP programming, i'm hopeless.. i get nervous and freak out when impossible task is waiting... I was certain that i wasnt smart enough as the rest of the troupe...It was a lie.

The art of the put-down
People respect us as much as we respect ourselves.. thats why the absence of self-confidence can make people not to believe in us. In my culture.. when we receive a complement, we would discount it.. which meant was..there must be some mistake.. i'm not worth your regards.. i dont like myself and cant really believe you do either. The problem is when we persist in putting ourselves down, people will begin to believe we are right.

Reclaim the Truth
I should regain the confidence God wants me to. To start with :

Names the lies - and give them to God.
List the falsehoods others have said about you and what you believed about yourself. Be specific, then agree with God that is is not how he sees you.. tell him

God, i know you made me, and you don't make junk. These lies have to go on. I wan to see myself the way you see me. Please begin the process of changing my mind.

I confess the lie that i was stupid on my work .. yet, even after acknowledging that i am actually pretty intelligent person, i still had to grieve the fact that no amount of classes or training would ever completely solve my programming skills.

God's Word is full of information about your identity and position as a believer in Jesus Christ. Let the wonder of God's perspective on you soak in. Do you fully realize what it means to be …

* Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
* Precious to God (Isaiah 43:4)
* Cared about since your conception (Isaiah 46:3)
* God's child (John 1:12)
* Jesus' friend (John 15:15)
* Chosen by Jesus (John 15:16)
* Loved dearly by God (John 16:27)
* Free from condemnation (Romans 8:1)
* A temple—a dwelling place—of God's Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16)
* Redeemed and forgiven of all your sins (Colossians 1:14)

God didn't get that specific in describing Eve! All he tells us about her in Gen. 1:27, 31 is that she was made in his image and it was very good! He feels the same way about me. so i should celebrate!

this is something i should learn to believe in and keep remainding myself ...