“Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives” – Louise Hay

I believe changing the world begins with oneself and not with the government, leaders or even religion. Although I would not deny the fact that their actions and decisions have a huge impact on our lives whether in a positive or negative way.

Today there is a lot of hurt, pain, corruption, injustice and many more other negative things happening around the world and it’s very sad that most of the time, children are the most vulnerable. This means that the world is not even one step closer to being better because children are the leaders of tomorrow.

Take a moment and think about what type of leaders the world is building?

Is it leaders who will lead with corruption, who will see injustice as a normal thing? Or normalise child abuse because after all they also went through it? See, it takes God’s grace for one hurtful soul to see nothing but hope and to have compassion towards humanity, to choose kindness over hurt, to rise above hate and live in love.

It might sound like I am deviating from the topic but I am not. The world is broken but not too broken to be fixed. so we can at least celebrate that there is still hope. But then how will that hope be cultivated and give birth to a better world? This can only change with a positive self-image for every individual. So we have a choice here, a choice to choose a better future for the world or to keep destroying it as we are already doing. It might sound stupid but trust me, it’s actually more important than it sounds.

Imagine a world where each person loved themselves? Imagine a world where each person is able to find courage and peace within their inner-self? If you have the right imagination then you would see a world free of pain, injustice, abuse and at least less corruption because when we have a positive self-image we want to achieve nothing but positive things. We find it easy to love others because of the love we give ourselves. We don’t hurt people or children in any kind of way just to feel powerful. We become conscience of our actions and want the best for the world, our country, community, society and family and it all begins with a positive self-image.

How then can we build or even work on having a positive self-image? The truth is, you cannot fight your enemies without knowing who they really are. And same goes for a positive self-image, you cannot build or work on having a positive self-image without understanding, realising and finding out why and where your negative self-image comes from. You can only succeed when you identify your failures and find strategies on how to work on them.

So, where does our self-image come from? Pastor Leonard Stone shared his sermon on Sunday 8 and 15 March 2020. He gave six ways as to where our self-image comes from, which I found to be true and very helpful. I will try and list them.

1. The things people have said – Sometimes what people say to us remains with us for the rest of our lives and affects our self-image especially if it’s negative. Only focus on what God says about you.
2. Our thought life – Negative thoughts set a limit for our life. Focus on God’s love and his smile upon your life. “Your thoughts determine your destination” – Pastor Leonard Stone
3. Our self-talk – What we think leads to what we say and our words have power. Cultivate positive self-talk.
4. Our experience – Positive experiences boost our image and negative experiences put us down and make us feel inferior. But they do not change our values or change who we are. What you have been through does not define who you are but God does. Do not use your experience as a thermometer to measure the level of coldness you need to show the world. Be kind always.
5. Comparing ourselves – When we try to compete against other people, we begin to feel inferior and this gives us a negative self-image. We need to run our own race, acknowledge the talents God has given us instead of comparing ourselves.
6. Failure – Failure is an event and not a person. Just because you failed, does not mean you’re a failure.

When you identify the area where your self-image comes from and begin to work on it, you don’t only build up a positive self-image but you also grow as a person and growing as a person means growing in every area of your life, from the inside out. Have a good and positive self-image, make a difference in the world, show love, kindness and patience. With this you will inspire people around you to also change and be more positive. We can at least hope that with this, the world will be heading towards a positive direction, building up the younger generation to grow and lead in love and not bitterness.

Tell us: Do you agree that your self-image influences how you see the world?