Joel Osteen - Peace With Yourself
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I want to talk to you today about Peace with Yourself. Too many people go around feeling wrong on the inside. They don’t really like who they are. They focus on their faults, weaknesses, they’re constantly critical towards themselves.
That recording, of everything they’ve done wrong, is always playing in their minds: “you’re impatient, you blew your diet yesterday, you lost your temper, you’re still struggling with that addiction, you should be ashamed of yourself...”
They wonder why they’re not happy - it’s because they have this war going on, on the inside. But you’re not supposed to go through life feeling wrong about yourself. Quit focusing on your faults, quit over-analyzing your weaknesses, quit beating yourself up because you’re not where you thought you would be.
Here’s the key: you’re not a finished product, God is still working on you.
The scripture (2Corinthians 3:18) says:”God changes us from glory to glory.” You have to learn to enjoy the glory that you’re in right now.
You may have some weaknesses, we all do, there may be some areas where you know you need to improve, but being down on yourself is not going to help you do better. Having that nagging feeling, telling you, you don’t measure up, God’s not pleased with you, you’ll never get it right - it’s not going to help you move forward. You have to accept yourself right where you are, faults and all.
God is the potter, we are the clay. He’s the one making you, and molding you. It may not be happening as fast as you would like, but you don’t control the timetable. Will you trust Him in the process? Will you accept yourself in the glory that you’re in right now?
The problem with not liking yourself, is you’re the only person, that you can never get away from. You can get away from your boss, you can get away from your neighbor, you can get away from that crazy uncle, but you can never get away from you.
You wake up with you, take a shower with you, you go to work with you, you even go on vacations with you. If you don’t like you, life is going to be very miserable. Don’t go around being against yourself. You may have some things wrong with you, but can I tell you, you have a lot more right with you. You may have a long way to go, but if you’ll look back, you’ll see how far you’ve already come.
Keep your flaws in perspective. Every person has something that they’re dealing with. You may see someone that look further along, they look like they’ve got it all together - they’re happy, enjoying their life - but they’re on the potter’s wheel.
The reason they’re not upset, the reason they’re not down on themselves, is they’ve learned this principle: to enjoy where you are while God is in the process of changing you. We think, “I’m going to feel good about myself as soon as I lose this ten pounds, as soon as I break this addiction, as soon as I control my mouth - then, I’ll get rid of the guilt, the heaviness.”
I’m asking you to feel good about yourself right where you are.
If you don’t understand this, you will go through life not liking yourself, because as soon as you overcome this weakness, you cross this off of your list, God will show us something else that we need to improve in - it will be a never-ending cycle.
I talked to a man recently. He said: “Joel, you’re so calm and good-natured, do you ever get upset? Do you ever loose your temper?”
This is an area that I’ve never struggled in… always been easy-going. My mother tells people, she’s never seen me angry a day in my life. God gives us grace in different areas.
When I told him that, he shook his head and said: “Man, I don’t know what is wrong with me. I get upset so easily. I’ve done this my whole life.”
I told him, what I’m telling you. As long as you’re down on yourself, feeling like you don’t measure up, you can’t get it right - that’s not only going to keep you from enjoying your life, it’s going to keep you from improving.
You have to give yourself a break - you’re on the potter’s wheel. You can’t change yourself - God has to give you the grace to change.
It takes a mature person, to accept who you are, be at peace on the inside, even though you have some areas, you need to improve in.
It’s easy to stay negative towards yourself, down, you can’t get it right. But when you make this decision to accept yourself, faults and all, instead of beating yourself up, you have the attitude: “No, I’m not perfect, I have some areas I need to improve in, but God, I want to thank You for the glory that I’m in right now. I know You’re the potter - I’m going to stay on this wheel, and keep being my best, knowing, on Your timetable, that You will change me.”
This is what allows God to work, not always beating yourself up.
The scripture says in Hebrews (12:1&2): “Looking away, from all that will distract, to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
You have to look away from your faults, look away from your shortcomings. Focusing on your weaknesses, will distract you from your purpose. Always thinking about how you don’t measure up, will distract you from the good things God has in store.
This doesn’t mean we don’t try to improve, it means you don’t let that heaviness weigh you down, to where you think that there’s something wrong with you.
One of the worst mistakes you could make is to go through life being against yourself. And some people live with this nagging feeling that’s always telling them: “You’re not attractive enough, your not disciplined enough, you still have that addiction, you’ll never get it right.” They’ve heard that playing in their mind for so long, that it’s become normal.
Why don’t you turn off, that negative recording. Why don’t you quit thinking about everything wrong with you, and start thinking about what’s right with you?
You may have some areas you still struggle in - join the crowd, we all do, there’s not one perfect person in here.
What I’m saying is, it’s ok to feel good about who you are, while you’re in the process of changing.
Somebody asked me the other day, what is the one thing I would change about mysel, if I could. And I don’t mean this to sound arrogant, but I couldn’t think of anything. And yes, there are plenty areas I need to improve in.
Here’s my point[b/]: I don’t sit around, thinking about everything wrong with me. I don’t have on the forefront of my mind, my flaws, my weaknesses, my shortcomings – I don’t go through the day reliving my failures… beating myself up for past mistakes… letting that negative recording remind me of everything that I’m not. I say this with humility – I like myself. I’m happy with who I am. I am proud with who God made me to be.
Again – I’m not bragging on me, I’m bragging on the goodness of God. I know I’m the apple of His eye, I know I’m a masterpiece, I know I’m a priced possession, cheerfully and wonderfully made.
And yes, I have shortcomings, but I’m on the potters wheel. I’m a work in progress. God has His own time table, while He’s changing me. I’m going to feel good about who I am. I’m gonna keep my head held high, and enjoy my life, knowing that God would get me to where I’m suppose to be.
It’s very powerful when you can say, “I like who I am. I feel good about myself. I’m proud of who God made me to be.” Most people can’t do this.
They say: “I would feel good about myself, if I didn’t have these weaknesses, I would be happy with who I am, if I was was a better parent, if I was more patient, if I wasn’t so jealous...” or “Joel, I would hold my head up high, if I hadn’t made these mistakes, if I hadn’t blown that relationship.”
There will always be some reason why you shouldn’t feel good about who you are. The accuser will make sure, to remind you of something, that you’re not doing right, some area that you’re not up to par, some way that you failed.
If you’re going to live in victory, you have to put your foot down, and say, “That’s it - I’m done being against myself, I’m done feeling wrong on the inside, I’m done focusing on my weaknesses. I know I’m a child of the most high God, redeemed, restored, forgiven. God is taking me from glory to glory, so I’m going to look away from all that distracts, and I’m going to enjoy the glory that I’m in right now.”
Now, when you do this, don’t be surprised if every voice tells you: “...you’re a hypocrite, you can’t feel good about yourself, man, you still struggle, you still have that weakness.”
This is when you have to have the boldness to say, “yes, that’s true, but I’m on the potter’s wheel. I’m growing, I’m changing - in the meantime, I feel good about me.”
Your destiny is too important to let that heaviness weigh you down. Your time is too valuable, to sit around thinking about everything that’s wrong with you - that’s taking your joy, your energy, your creativity, your anointing.
Start looking away from all of that. You’re on the potter’s wheel. You’re not going to change overnight, it’s going to happen little by little.
But if you’re always down on yourself, because you’re not far enough along, you’re not growing as fast as you would like, you’ll live frustrated. It’s very freeing, when you can be happy with who you are, even though you have some areas that you still need to improve in.
Think about the apostle Paul - he said (Romans 7:15): “...the things I wanna do, I don’t do – things I don’t wanna do, I end up doing.”
He wasn’t perfect, he still struggled in some areas. If he would’ve been down on himself, thinking: “why can’t I get it right?” he wouldn’t have written, almost half of the New Testament, he wouldn’t have become one of the heroes of faith.
You don’t have to have it all together, in order to do something great. If you’re waiting ‘til you’ve overcome all your weaknesses, ‘til you perform perfectly, then you’re going to feel good about yourself, you’ll be waiting your whole life. There are some weaknesses, that God leaves on purpose, so that we have to depend on Him - otherwise, we would think that we could do it all in our own strength.
What I'm saying - why don’t you start feeling good about yourself right where you are? if Paul can write almost half of the New Testament, with flaws and weaknesses, then you can accomplish your dreams with what you’re dealing with.
And when you’re on the potter’s wheel, you are the most pliable, the easiest to work with, when you’re at peace with yourself - not upset, angry on the inside, disappointed because you’re not where you think you should be. All that’s doing, is slowing down the process.
The right attitude: “I may have some things wrong with me, but I’m at peace. I know I’m on the way, I'm in in the process, and what God started in my life, He’s going to finish.”
Jeremiah (1:5) said: “Before you were formed in your mother's womb, God knew you and approved you.”
It doesn’t say: “He approves you, as long as you don’t make any mistakes, He approves you, as long as you perform perfectly, as long as you don’t have any weaknesses...”
He approved you before you got here, in your mother’s womb. This means, He approves you, with those weaknesses, He approves you, in spite of those shortcomings. You’re not a surprise to God. He knows the end from the beginning. He knew every area you would ever struggle with - that’s why He has you on the potter’s wheel, that's why He's changing you from glory to glory. You’re not defective, you're not a mistake. When God created you, He called you a masterpiece. He stepped back and said: “That was good.”
But, you may have some flaws and weaknesses - those voices will try to convince you to live down on yourself, thinking: “God’s not going to bless me Joel, you don’t know what I struggle with, I’ll never get it right.” Don’t believe those lies.
Before you showed up on planet Earth, God already approved you.
[b]My challenge is: since God approves you, why don’t you start approving yourself, why don't you start feeling good about who you are?
A lot of times, we think: we can’t feel good about ourselves, until we do everything right... if we resist the temptation, if we bite our tongue, if we're more patient - then we believe God will approve us, then He'll be pleased.
But the truth is, there’s nothing you can do to make God love you any more. His approval is not based on your performance, it’s based on your relationship. He hand-picked you. He chose you, before you could choose Him.
And, when you understand that the Creator of the universe approves you, you won’t go around down on yourself, 'cause you’re not where you thought you should be, trying to gain God’s approval by performing perfectly, never making a mistake.
You know: you already have His approval.
This takes the pressure off. You can relax, knowing that you’re on the potter’s wheel, that He’s making and molding you. When those thoughts come, and try to push you down, tell you, you’re not far enough along, you should feel bad about yourself, you can say: “No thanks. I know God approves me, so I’m going to approve myself, I'm going to feel good about who I am.”
Paul said in Ephesians (6:14) to put on the breastplate of God’s approval.”
Every morning when you get up, you should say: “Father, thank You that You approve me, thank you that You are pleased with me.”
You have to put it on - it’s not going to automatically happen.
Thoughts will try to convince you, that you don’t deserve God’s blessing: “You made that mistake last week, you still struggle with your temper, you failed yesterday...”
If you’re not putting this on, you’ll start living guilty, feeling unworthy, like you don’t deserve God’s blessing. This is the reason many people live with the heaviness, that feeling that there’s something wrong with them - they’re not putting on the breastplate of God’s approval.
It’s the breastplate - meaning that it covers your heart, your most important area, where you live out of.
And you may have plenty of areas that you still struggle in, but being against yourself, is not going to help you do better - living condemned, feeling like you’re unworthy, you don’t deserve God’s blessing - that’s going to cause you to get stuck.
You have to put on this approval. I’m talking about in your thoughts, all through the day: “God is pleased with me. He’s at work in my life. I’m not perfect, but I’m forgiven. I have these weaknesses, but I’m on the potter’s wheel. He’s making me, He's molding me. I’m coming up higher.”
Thoughts will say: “You can’t feel good about yourself, you still struggle in that area” - just answer back: “Yes, that’s true, but this approval is not based on how good I am, but on how good God is. He approved me before I showed up, He accepted me in spite of my shortcomings, so I’m going to start putting on this approval.”
Remember when Jesus was baptized, in the Jordan river, by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17), a voice boomed out of the heaven saying: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”
What’s interesting - up to that point, Jesus hadn't performed one miracle, hadn’t opened any blind eyes, hadn't turned water into wine, hadn't raised Lazarus from the dead. Yet, his Father said: “I am well pleased with him.” It’s the same principle - God was pleased with him, because of who he was, and not because of anything he had done.
We think, “If I can get rid of this bad habit, if I can bite my tongue and not argue so much, if I can be more disciplined in what I watch, then God will be pleased with me.”
The fact is, God is well pleased with you right now. He may not be pleased with all your behaviour, but He is pleased with you, He's already approved you, He's already called you a masterpiece.
But if you listen to these condemning voices, you don’t think you measure up, you’ll never get it right, then you’ll start living guilty, condemned, feeling wrong on the inside.
Why don’t you start putting on this approval, knowing that God is well pleased with you?
A lot of people think just the opposite: that God is out to get them, He's waiting for them to make the next mistake, so He can push you down even further. That’s not how our God is.
When you go through the day saying: “Father, thank You that You are pleased with me, thank you that You have approved me, thank you that you have already accepted me.”
Thoughts will tell you: “Who do you think you are?” - just answer back: “A child of the most high God, redeemed, restored, accepted and approved.”
Are you putting on your breastplate of approval, or are you wearing rags of condemnation, unworthiness, guilt?
Do you believe that God is well pleased with you, or are you trying to gain His approval by performing perfectly?
As a parent - our children make mistakes, they have weaknesses, but we know that they’re growing, they're learning, they're making progress. If you were to ask me, if I was pleased with my children, the first thing that I would do, is not make a list of all their mistakes. I wouldn't tell you everything they’ve done wrong for the last 3 months. I wouldn’t have to think twice - I would say: “Yes, I am very pleased, they’re great children.”
I would make a list of everything I like about them: they're loving, kind, talented, fun, attractive...
That’s the way God thinks of you. He’s not focusing on your faults, looking at everything that you’ve done wrong, making a list of your shortcomings. He’s focusing on what you’re doing right, He's looking at how you’re growing, how you're making progress, how you're not where you used to be.
“Well Joel, what about this weakness? I’ve had it for many years?”
You’re not a surprise to God. He’s not thinking: “Oh boy, they’re wearing Me out. I’m done with them.” He’s saying: “That’s my beloved son... that's my beloved daughter... in whom I am well pleased.”
Why don’t you shake off the guilt, why don't you quit feeling wrong on the inside? The right attitude is: “I’m going to accept myself, while God is in the process of changing me. I’m going to be happy with who I am, even though I still have some areas that I need to improve in.”
The enemy does not want you to feel good about who you are - nothing he would love any more, than for you to go through life, feeling wrong on the inside. Don’t fall into that trap. Take off the rags of unworthiness, and start putting on your breastplate of God’s approval.
The most important relationship you have, is your relationship with yourself. If you don’t get along with you, you won’t be able to get along with anybody else. It will affect every relationship, including your relationship with God. If you’re living guilty, condemned, feeling unworthy, you won’t go to God with boldness, you won't ask Him for your dreams, you won't ask Him for the supersized life, that belongs to you.
And this is the reason that many people can’t get along - they don’t like themselves. They’re insecure, they're bitter, they're defensive - it spills over into every other relationship.
Jesus said it this way (Matthew 22:39): “Love your neighbour, as you love yourself.’
You can’t love your neighbour, if you don’t first love yourself. You can’t give away something that you don’t have. And if you don’t have a healthy respect for yourself, if you’re not putting on this approval each day, knowing that you’re a masterpiece, knowing that you're made in the image of God, then you’ll start focusing on your faults, your shortcomings... you’ll end up insecure, inferior... That will cause you to struggle in relationships.
The scripture says (Philemon 1:6): “Our faith is made affective, when we acknowledge everything good.”
If you’re acknowledging everything that you don’t like about you, your flaws, your shortcomings, your failures - your faith is not going to be effective. That’s going to cause you to get stuck.
You have enough to overcome in your life as it is, don’t go around against yourself. Quit taking inventory of everything you don’t like. Sometimes, we spend more time, looking at what’s wrong with us, than we do what’s right with us. It should be just the opposite - start acknowledging the good.
Let me help you: you came to church today - that was good. You turned on the programme - that was good. You were patient in traffic last week – that was good. You were kind to that stranger, you overlooked an insult – that was good.
There’s a lot right about you.
Even physically, we tend to focus on what we don’t like: “I’m so old, I'm so wrinkled, I wish I was taller, where did my hair go?”
Listen, turn it around: instead of being critical: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I am one of a kind, I am a masterpiece.”
Something powerful happens when you say: “I like who I am. ...not perfect, have some shortcomings, but I’m growing, I'm changing, and God, since You approve me, I’m going to approve myself.”
When you do this, in the unseen realm, chains are broken: chains of guilt, chains of low self-esteem, chains of inferiority.
When you are for yourself, you are in agreement with God.
And some people have never once said, “I like myself. I like my gifts, I like my personality, I like my looks. I’m happy with who God made me to be.”
“Well Joel, I’m not going to say I like myself, that’s weird.”
But if you don’t like yourself in a healthy way, other people are not going to like you. You project what you believe on the inside. If you feel wrong about yourself, you project inferiority, unfriendliness, discontentment.
I’m asking you to feel good about who you are. You may not be where you wanna be, but you’re on the way.
God is changing you from glory to glory. Start enjoying the glory that you’re in right now. You may have some weaknesses, we all do.
Don’t you dare go through life against yourself. God is saying today: “You are My beloved son... my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased.”
Now do your part: start putting on the breastplate of God’s approval every morning.
If you’ll do this, I believe and declare, every chain that’s holding you back is being broken. God is going to keep making and molding you. you’re going to come up higher, overcome those obstacles, and become everything He’s created you to be. In Jesus' name.
If you receive it today, can you say amen?