Are you purposefully devoting attention and efforts to enhancing and protecting your personal wellbeing? Are you deliberately taking care of yourself, mentally, emotionally, and physically? Are you consciously aware of the people in your life that are good for you? Or are they using you, or taking advantage of you? Over in Joshua 1:6, God says to Joshua, “Be strong and Courageous…” God was talking to Joshua about leading and taking care of His people, but here we are talking about leading and taking care of yourself. Are you being strong and courageous with your life?
Joshua 1:6 (ESV) 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Also, what goes along with that, is enhancement, thoughtfulness, patience, restoration, grace, appreciation, and love.
Love
In the most basic sense, love is the emotion felt and actions performed by someone concerned for the well-being of another person. Love involves affection, compassion, care, and self-sacrifice. Not just towards others, but also towards yourself. How can you love someone else when you can’t or don’t love yourself? I believe the reason so many relationships fail is because we don’t love ourselves. Jesus says “love your neighbor as you love yourself”. If you are horrible at loving yourself, you will be horrible at loving others. Love originates with God, within the eternal relationship that exists among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (1 John 4:7–8). Loving is unique to the human experience of being made in the image of God.
Genesis 1:26 (ESV) 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Own
To have power or mastery over… God has made you a steward, a manager over yourself, over your life. Now the question is, do you have the confidence and the self-esteem to manage yourself? Self-esteem is about self-love and how you value yourself. You must be willing to strengthen your self-confidence. Be strong and courageous, think like a boss. Self-confidence means how well you can control certain aspects of your life. Confidence means to trust; do you trust yourself with yourself? If someone asked you to watch their child, most likely, they have confidence in you and they trust you. Why can’t you trust you with you?
Self-Confidence vs. Self-Esteem
There is a difference between self-confidence and self-esteem. Self-confidence is about how well you can control certain aspects of your life. Self-esteem is about self-love and how you value your life. Confidence means to trust; do you trust yourself with yourself? Self-confidence simply means we trust our knowledge, skills, and abilities. Esteem means to appraise, value, rate, weigh, or estimate; therefore, self-esteem is how you appraise or value your self-worth. In Psalm 139, the Bible teaches us, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Meaning, you are a masterpiece of God.
Think about this; out of all the billions of eggs from your mother, and the millions of spurn form your father, you were chosen by the miracle-working power of God and He shaped and molded you into a beautiful human being. You were chosen out of all the billions and millions of eggs and spurn, you were chosen through the wonder-working power of God, which makes you a miracle.
In conclusion, enhancing and protecting your personal wellbeing is a journey that starts with self-love and self-care. Trust yourself, value yourself, and be strong and courageous in leading and taking care of your own life. Remember, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, a masterpiece of God. Embrace this truth and live it out each day, enhancing and protecting your personal wellbeing with grace, appreciation, and love.
