Perception

For the most part we think about ourselves more often than we should. When we do think about ourselves, we can’t really see ourselves for who we are. Our emotions, mixed in with our current situation, lead us to having a warped view of ourselves. We are subjective evaluators of ourselves, so we have to turn to the only objective view of ourselves: God. To understand who we really are, we have to see  ourselves as God sees us.

You probably don’t have an accurate view of yourself.

 Sometimes we will have a too high evaluation of ourselves because we are afraid of the shame in admitting we are not all that. Other times, we may have a too low view of ourselves either from a false view of humility or an over emphasis of our faults. We have a hard time maintaining a biblical view of ourselves because a Biblical understanding of ourselves sees us with two sets of lenses at the same time. But like three D glasses, you need both lenses at the same time to see ourselves accurately. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and yet we live in a world groaning about sin (Romans 8:22). To have an accurate picture of ourselves, we cannot ignore either lense. We have to both see our value as the image of God and see the severity of the stain of sin.

There is no dignity in depravity.

It is not more honorable to put ourselves down and see ourselves as evil. We are made in the image of God and God has declared us righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 6:1-4. 1 John 2:1-17). We shouldn’t celebrate our shortcomings; we should work to improve them. We should not be content with allowing sin to run free in our lives. When we allow sin to reign we have a distorted view of the severity of sin and an elevated view of ourselves.

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:12-14 (Emphasis mine)

For us to be fully alive in Christ, we have to be dead to the sin we formerly walked in. Repentance is a change of allegiance from living for ourselves to living for Christ. Grace is an act of God giving us the strength to move in that new direction.