I believe it’s better to replace self-esteem with esteem toward God and the spiritual. Note that the “self” is defined as “reflective consciousness.” As such, one merely needs to do is disrupt the reflective consciousness to eliminate the strong sense of “self” and promote the spiritual. “Self” predominates in modern society, but it’s so problematic. The key, in any event, is to become a spiritual person, in close communion with God.
Self esteem is not sinful as long as it is properly ordered. To be properly ordered, it must acknowledge the Truth. What the Truth is in every individual’s case is that he or she is a rebellious creature who, from the moment of his or her conception, deeply offends God through inherited Original Sin. That, in spite of God’s justifiable aversion to the hearts of such men and women, which are stony and rotten, that He has gratuitously offered a way out of the filth of our natures and holds in keeping for us unimaginable ecstasies infinitely beyond what we deserve. So, as long as you hold that, as of this moment, your nature is more akin to slime than anything remotely agreeable, but that you have been given the opportunity to be made into something far better, then it’s certain that God would be pleased with this attitude.
Low self esteem leads to prideful behavior. Prideful behavior is motivated to find self worth from and external source in order to compensate for the internal void. A person with high self esteem does not have this deficit.
God should definately be the author of the universe. There is going to be an inverse relationship between sense of self and heightened spirituality.
t have self-respect, were likely to end up dying in the gutter. The Fifth Commandment would apply to the presence or absence of that mental attitude.Other Eric;8399595. What the Truth is in every individual’s case is that he or she is a rebellious creature who said:The ‘Truth’ as quoted here comes across as somewhat heretical. A quick look into Catholic Dogma and teaching on the subject of Original Sin and the love and value that God has for each soul He creates, is in stark contradiction to what you propose.
I quote now from the Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott:
“The wounding of nature must not be conceived, with the Reformers and the Jansenists, as the complete corruption of human nature. In the condition of Original Sin, man possesses the ability of knowing natural religious truths and of performing natural morally good actions.” I reject all the derogatory labels that you attach, blanket fashion, to us all, as you will come to see, we are worth more than you give God credit for!
It is not correct to say"…,as of this moment,…akin to slime…". This is a wild proposition with no basis of fact or reality at all. How could you know, at any given moment, never mind as of this moment, how all mankind stands in the eyes of his Creator?
We all have the duty to study our Faith and what it teaches, in order to defend it and to be ambassador’s for His Kingdom.
The ‘Truth’ as quoted here comes across as somewhat heretical. A quick look into Catholic Dogma and teaching on the subject of Original Sin and the love and value that God has for each soul He creates, is in stark contradiction to what you propose.
In my opinion, you must read CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity and the Chapter on Pride. It does what all good thinkers do: he first defines it, then he differentiates it from other vices/virtues. It is a great read.
To esteem is to regard with respect or admiration. Self-esteem is to regard with respect or admiration things that are about ourselves.
Right. There is the concept of “dying to self”. _ “unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it will not bear fruit” or something like that. I am not sure I quoted that verse accurately, but that is close. I think 'dying to self ‘’ presupposes a self, and a pretty sound one at that! Maybe what we are talking about is a whole continuum, from a pathological lack of self-esteem, up through a healthy self-esteem, to a perverted self-esteem in sinful pride. It seems to me that either extreme would prevent the kind of “reflective consciousness” that would help one move toward dying to self and living in/for/with God. I’d like to hear your thought on this.
To know a natural truth means nothing. Even Satan is capable of that. While man is capable of performing morally good actions, every one of them is made possible through the assistance of God’s grace. Apart from that, man is incapable of doing anything. It also ought to be remarked that any morally good action that man is capable of is, necessarily, imperfect, like the lukewarm thing that Christ vomits from His mouth.The ‘Truth’ as quoted here comes across as somewhat heretical. A quick look into Catholic Dogma and teaching on the subject of Original Sin and the love and value that God has for each soul He creates, is in stark contradiction to what you propose.
I quote now from the Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott:
“The wounding of nature must not be conceived, with the Reformers and the Jansenists, as the complete corruption of human nature. In the condition of Original Sin, man possesses the ability of knowing natural religious truths and of performing natural morally good actions.” I reject all the derogatory labels that you attach, blanket fashion, to us all, as you will come to see, we are worth more than you give God credit for!
It is not correct to say"…,as of this moment,…akin to slime…". This is a wild proposition with no basis of fact or reality at all. How could you know, at any given moment, never mind as of this moment, how all mankind stands in the eyes of his Creator?
We all have the duty to study our Faith and what it teaches, in order to defend it and to be ambassador’s for His Kingdom.
My personal belief is that the “self” is evil, no matter the degree. Instead of self-esteem, which is really introverted if you think about it, I believe in esteem. Esteem towards God and things spiritual, for example. Kill the self, and then you’re dealing with a true extrovert.
I cannot agree with your statement that the self is evil. Left out is the whole concept of free will. We have the capacitiy of making good or bad choices, which is where reflective consciousness comes in. We can also change, that is, make bad choices and realize we have done so. The grace and love of our God is always calling us to our better side. To have only evil at the core of our self involves our choice, not our capacity.
Not only are we not evil, we are priest; we are kings; albeit, without cloths. Thank God for Jesus Christ. He has clothed us and when we are without sin we are a part if divinity. Do not tell this to your protestant friends - they just get mad as a hornet.
I contend that free will is independent of the psychological notion of self. For example, our conscience can dictate a certain behavior in a given situation and the person is free to either act on it or not. Reflective consciousness is not necessary for a person to act on an impulse such as that arising from conscience. Moreover, I would not consider the concept of self to be an all or nothing event, but it is to be measured along a continuum, with almost everyone everyone experiencing at least some degree of self.