I will now give some advice about how you, or how you can help others, discard a bad self-image and move into the incredible life God has planned!
Be filled with power!
You should seek to be baptized in The Holy Spirit and receive His power. Being baptized in The Holy Spirit was my start to realizing a right self-image and getting on track for what God had planned for me. This seems easy, but we tend to make things with God very difficult. Many see the decision to be filled with power from God as something difficult, complicated or a big theological debate, but it doesn’t have to be like this.
I’m not saying that every problem will be solved right away, but God gives you another starting point. And that’s what happened to me.
Something happened on the day of Pentecost! When Jesus was crucified, the disciples became cowards, weak and frightened. They fled when the soldiers took Jesus, only Peter (seems like John is there too) followed at a distance, but when he was confronted about knowing Jesus, he denied and failed Jesus, too. The disciples didn’t do any ministry after the crucifixion, probably fearing that they would be executed too. We even see that Peter and two other disciples went back to their old occupation as fishermen. They were really on the defensive, but on the day of Pentecost something happened, they received power and boldness. Peter had denied Jesus, some weeks earlier, but now stood in front of a large crowd, probably filled with some of the same people that crucified Jesus, and he told them that the Jesus that you crucified is alive and you should repent. What boldness! Something really happened, and something happened with me too, when The Holy Spirit came upon me.
Even if I was filled with boldness and power, it was still a big challenge to say or do things for God. But I noticed that when I dared to take the challenges, God was there and he gave me the power and the boldness I needed, when I said or did something.
Dare to take challenges.
The best way to overcome your fear is to do to the things you are afraid of. Face it head on. Dare to do things you did not dare to do before. If you are afraid of standing in front of people and speaking, do it, even if you should fail.
My testimony reveals my attempts, which ended in failure, because I did not trust in the power of God. We need to trust that God’s power is there. It doesn’t mean that you will never fail after receiving the power, but as long as you trust God you will have the power to do things for Him.
Peter was one of the disciples that experienced the most with Jesus; he was also the one that failed the most. Peter even got to walk on water, what an experience! Sometimes it is this way for us, we need to take that step of faith to overcome our fear. Seemingly, some situations appear difficult and totally impossible by our reasoning, but because God said that He would be with us and that we will receive power (Acts 1:8), we have to take a step of faith and trust in His word. Sometimes we focus on the big waves, and thoughts of doubt come into our mind saying: this will stop us. Then Jesus comes and lifts us up again and we can walk with Him. He will always say to us: “Come on, you can do it, don’t have unbelief, next time it will be better.”
Take up the battle
When wrong thoughts about yourself overwhelm you, don’t resist, take up the battle. This has been a long process in me, and I still meet opposition from the devil, even though I am free.
When you are reminded of the past, and this will happen, you have to know how to resist the enemy on the day of evil. There is power in the name of Jesus and the word he testified (Rev 12:11). Learn to protect yourself with the shield of faith when the devil shoots his arrow against you, and use the sword of the spirit that is the word of God, when you fight. (Eph 6:16) When negative thoughts come, confess what the truth says. Find a scripture that confirms the truth. So, for instance, when a negative thought comes about whom you are, you can use Psalm 145. It says that you were created in a beautiful way and that you are important to God.
Remember too that you will never be completely perfect before getting to heaven, that’s why some arrows will actually hit us. Make a decision to never be put down into the pit, but rise up again and walk on.
Have a right picture of God
Even if you have a fall, God still loves you. He is not far away up in heaven looking down at you saying: “Watch out for what you do, because I see you.” After a fall, He is not telling you: “I saw you, how can you do something like this?” This is actually the voice of the enemy. The way God drives us to repentance is not by pointing a finger at us, and saying: “How could you?”, but by showing us the love He has for us and that He is hurt when we sin. Here are two scriptures that confirm this truth.
Rom 2:4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
Tit 2:11-12
11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
Confess self-pity as a sin
One thing that keeps many people down is that they don’t see self-pity as a sin. They believe that they have the right to feel sorry for themselves, but this is a lie. Self-pity is self-focusing on the sad and bad things that have happened to you. This is not edifying. Self-pity is destructive and is as big a sin as pride. Put away your self-pity and start to reach out for the things ahead, because God has something new for you! Scriptures I use when I am tempted to fall into self-pity are:
Is 43:18-19
18"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
Phil 3:12-14
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Forgive others
Bitterness towards others who have wronged you is something that will bind you. You will not be free as long as you hold on to your bitterness. The things that have happened to you can be unfair and you feel that you have the right to be bitter. This is actually a lie, because the more bitterness you harbor, the more the situation or the person, has power over you. Forgiveness will help you to put these things behind you and deliver you so you can live in freedom.
Don’t compare yourself with others
This is a mistake that leads us to be bound and to have a bad self-image. To think, “If I only had been like him or her then I would had been happy!” is a lie. God has created you with your personality, gifts and talents; you are unique in every matter! As you have read in my personal testimony I have fought a lot with this. I always wanted to be a more outspoken and funny person. I always compared myself with others and I always lost, because I was comparing my weakest side with their strong side, so I was doomed to lose. Accept yourself as you are! You are an original and God has given you a lot of high-quality and positive sides. I found that out when I stopped comparing myself to others that I could be both funny and talkative at times.
I have decided! What about you?
The devil has tried many times after 1989 to get me back in the same position as I was before, but he has failed. The fire that Jesus ignited in me that summer of 89’ shall not be quenched by the devil, because I know that the victory that Jesus won is mine.
Neither people nor the devil can hinder me from grasping what God has planned for me. I am the only one that can hinder me. But, I have decided! I want to seek God’s plan for my life.
Rom 8:37-39
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,M neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
