Is it a sin to degrade one's self verbally?

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Spoken4

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By this I mean calling yourself “stupid”, “ugly”, a “worthless POS” (piece of “stuff”… or something that starts with the same letter), a “dumb b****”", “never should have been born, waste of good oxygen”… or some other unflattering term or phrase.

I know it’s wrong to degrade others with those words just as it’s wrong to inflate one’s self excessively-- but what about using disparaging terms on yourself? Is that still wrong?

~Spoken4
 
Well I wouldn’t use swear words. I think it can be sinful but not gravely so. Ultimately we are children of God so have a degree of dignity. I must admit I constantly put myself down. It is habitual and hard to shake
 
John_of_Woking said:
Well I wouldn’t use swear words. I think it can be sinful but not gravely so. Ultimately we are children of God so have a degree of dignity. I must admit I constantly put myself down. It is habitual and hard to shake
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Verbal abuse is an art form to be cultivated and refined.
 
Jesus command is,
“Love others as yourself”
Love others as you love yourself, but if you hate yourself, how can you love others rightly

The Bible, the word of God, teaches us,

“value yourself at your proper worth. Who can justify a man who runs himself down, or respect a man who despises himself.” [Ecclesiasticus 10:28-29] If we do fail to love ourselves correctly, we cannot accept God’s love. Let us never imagine ourselves hidden from Your mercy: ‘“Can anyone hide in a dark corner without my seeing him?’ asks the Lord.” [Jeremiah 23-24]

The concept of rightly loving oneself in order to love others as God’s precious children may be confused with the selfishness that ruins unselfish self-love. It requires us to reject negative self-talk and responses. “If a man is mean to himself, to whom will he be good?” [Ecclesiasticus 14:3].

Growth in Christian self-love is facilitated by “filling your mind with everything that is true, everything that is noble, and everything that is pure and good” [Philippians 4:8] and serving “in works of love.” It is allowing the Spirit to direct your life and then “you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence. What the Spirit brings is…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.” [Galatians 5:13, 16, 26, 22-23]

Jesus, help us to fittingly love ourselves. You do not wish us to disparage ourselves but to see ourselves as loved, forgiven children of God. A poor self-image may compare to our perception of ‘clouds’. To observers, clouds appear to be impressive, substantial and tangible. However, within themselves the clouds seem damp, insubstantial and misty.

Jesus, let us not belittle ourselves in comparison to others because of our personal uncertainties and inadequacies. Let us live in sincere acceptance of self, that unique gift of Your creative love. help us to see ourselves as loved children of God. Jesus, help me to know that You really love me so that I can love You and love others truly.
 
Spoken4 said:
By this I mean calling yourself “stupid”, “ugly”, a “worthless POS” (piece of “stuff”… or something that starts with the same letter), a “dumb b****”", “never should have been born, waste of good oxygen”… or some other unflattering term or phrase.

I know it’s wrong to degrade others with those words just as it’s wrong to inflate one’s self excessively-- but what about using disparaging terms on yourself? Is that still wrong?

~Spoken4
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We need to love others as we love ourselves… Needless to say, you won’t be capable of loving others very well if you talk like that about yourself! 😛 It’s important to respect yourself for that reason, but also because your body is a temple. The spirit of God is in you, and because we were made in his image, we need to respect ourselves and others. Respect involves our thoughts, **words **and actions.
Another thing to keep in mind is God’s love for you. Considering how vast his love is for you and that he created you, it seems like God might be a little insulted by how you put yourself down. You are his handiwork, after all, and I’m sure God would say something entirely different about you than “worthless POS, dumb b–, a waste of good oxygen,” etc.
Try to align your thoughts about yourself with God’s thoughts about you. You will find yourself saying good things about your good self. 😉
 
There are only limited times that one should put oneself down. As I age I find myself looking in the mirror and a voice rages in my head “UGLY, BALD and BAGS under eyes”. 😛
 
Spoken4 said:
By this I mean calling yourself “stupid”, “ugly”, a “worthless POS” (piece of “stuff”… or something that starts with the same letter), a “dumb b****”", “never should have been born, waste of good oxygen”… or some other unflattering term or phrase.

I know it’s wrong to degrade others with those words just as it’s wrong to inflate one’s self excessively-- but what about using disparaging terms on yourself? Is that still wrong?

~Spoken4
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Definitely. That is false humility, and false humility is an expression of a very hidden pride. often it gets in the way of our spiritual progress. We get so busy judging ourselves that we’re too busy to judge others. But overall we’re totally self consumed and it has nothing to do with true charity toward others. Usually you will find that if you do momentarily take your focus off of yourself, you’ll immediately start judging others and then go back to beating yourself mentally up for doing so, thus making yourself feel more righteous because “well hey I’m disciplining myself for hurting others.”

Just as its a sin to commit suicide because its murder, it is a sin to insult yourself just as its a sin to insult others. Now granted, some culpability may be taken away due to mental illness, but I would be serious about working against these thoughts and learning to value yourself at your proper worth. God loves you. Who are you to insult His creation? Considering that these types of thoughts tend to head in the direction of contemplating suicide, its important to take them seriously.
 
I have the exact same habitual problem and it could be the result of physical, verbal or emotional abuse/neglect and therefore you might need some counseling and/or a psychiatrist if you don’t already receive it (forgive me if I am being too nosy).
 
On the other hand, some comedians have made millions out of self-deprecation.

And, according to Fr. Corapi, St. Jose-Maria Escriba’s nickname for himself was Mangy Donkey.

DaveBj
 
I think there’s a big difference between a determined disgust and disdain about oneself and a reaction born of frustration with one’s shortcomings or lack of ability.

One is based in a wish to change for the better, while the other is denying the gifts and opportunities given by God.
 
Spoken4 said:
By this I mean calling yourself “stupid”, “ugly”, a “worthless POS” (piece of “stuff”… or something that starts with the same letter), a “dumb b****”", “never should have been born, waste of good oxygen”… or some other unflattering term or phrase.

I know it’s wrong to degrade others with those words just as it’s wrong to inflate one’s self excessively-- but what about using disparaging terms on yourself? Is that still wrong?

~Spoken4
Click to expand...
The Church is generally against swearing, but I would guess that there is nothing wrong (from a Catholic perspective) with putting yourself down.

After all, pride is a sin and humility is a virtue.
Therefore things that humble yourself and take away any pride you have in yourself would be good.

Read the works of the Catholic saints, a lot of them seemed to genuinely despise themselves.
 
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