Lesson 3: Learning to Accept Myself

What you think about yourself is very important. It affects your happiness and everything you do.

It affects the way you get along with other people. Most important of all, it affects your attitude toward God.

Molly is an overweight sixth-grader. Ever since she started school she has been teased about her weight. She has been called "Fatty," "Porky," and "Fatso" more times than she can remember, but it still hurts. Even though it is not true, Molly thinks that all the children at school hate her. Worse than this, Molly hates herself. She sees herself as being ugly and not worth much. She wishes that she could be somebody else.

Much of Molly's unhappiness comes from the fact that she does not accept herself and because she is believing wrong thoughts. We have already seen how important our thoughts are. What we think determines what we do and what we feel. This is why it is so important that we think right thoughts.

Three Facts from God's Word

To help us think right thoughts, let us consider three facts from God's Word.

FACT #1: We were created by God.

The Bible says, "Know that the Lord He is God: It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves." (Psalm 100:3)

FACT #2: We were created in the image of God.

The Bible says, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He them; male and female created He them." (Genesis 1:27)

Molly's unhappiness comes from not accepting herself.

FACT #3: Each of us was given certain characteristics by God.

No one had a choice as to his parents, his race, the color of his skin, his intelligence, his physical appearance, or his natural abilities. These all came to us by birth and they all came from God. Since this is true, there is no place for pride on our part. The Bible says, "Who makes you different from another? And what do you have that you did not receive?"
(1 Corinthians 4:7)

We do not have anything to be ashamed of regarding the way God made us. You would not like it if someone made fun of something you made, and God does not like it when anyone makes fun of another person. Never, never, never make fun of another person.

To look down on yourself or to make fun of yourself is also wrong. In fact, it is just as wrong as looking down on someone else or making fun of them.

How to think rightly about yourself

We want to share with you some things that will help you to think rightly about yourself.

Realize that you are a special person.

Satan likes to put wrong thoughts into our minds. He likes to tell us that we are not worth much and that God does not really care about us. But this is a lie.

Jesus told His disciples that not even a little sparrow could fall to the ground without His Father knowing about it. Jesus said that we are worth more than many sparrows. He said that even the hairs of our heads are numbered by God. This shows us how important we are to God.

The most wonderful thing in the world is not some space ship, some new computer, or some expensive automobile.

 

The most wonderful thing in the world is a human being! We were made in the image of God. David said,

"I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14

We cannot imagine how many leaves there are in the world; yet no two of them are exactly alike. The same is true of snowflakes. We cannot imagine how many snowflakes fall to the earth each year; yet no two of them are exactly alike.

This tells us something about God — He likes variety! He could have made all leaves alike and all snowflakes alike, but He did not. He made them all different. He made all of us different too. No two people are exactly alike.

You are a special, one-of a-kind individual. There has never been anyone exactly like you, and there never will be another person exactly like you. Say to yourself, "Though there are billions of people on the earth, God knows and loves me. I am a special 'someone. There's only one me!"

Press your thumb on an ink pad, then press it on a piece of paper firmly. Don't jiggle. No one else has a fingerprint exactly like that. Have a friend press their thumb on an ink pad, then press it on to your paper beside yours. Compare it with yours. It is not the same. There's only one "you."

Become God's friend.

If you were a personal friend of the President of some country and talked to him every day, would it not make you think well of yourself? Your friends would surely look up to you and be impressed with you because of your personal friendship with such an important man.

Do you know that you can be a personal friend of someone who is much, much greater than a President of a country? You can be a friend of God!

The way to become a personal friend of God is to take the Lord Jesus as Savior. If you have not taken Jesus as your Savior, you can do this right now. Tell Him that you know that you are a sinner and that you believe that He is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins. Ask Him to come into your heart to be your Savior.

Don't compare yourself with others.

Little children are happy because they do not compare themselves with one another. They are happy just being themselves and having what they have.

As children grow older they start looking around and comparing themselves with others. It is then that many of them become unhappy with themselves because they are not as smart as so-and-so or not as good looking as so-and-so, or they do not have money like so-and-so. God tells us not to do this. He tells us to be content with the way He made us and not to compare ourselves with others.

Do not be bitter about yourself.

Did you know that it is a sin for a person to hate himself and have bitter feelings about himself? When a person does this, he is saying to God, "God, You didn't treat me fairly. You didn't make me the way You should have." Have you been bitter about yourself? Have you felt that God has not treated you fairly? If so, will you confess this sin to God right now? Just tell Him the truth:

God, I have been bitter and resentful. I am confessing this sin to You right now.

Be thankful.

Our happiness in life does not depend on how beautiful or how handsome we are. It does not depend on how smart we are. It does not depend on how much money we have. It depends on our attitude—the way we think about things. God wants us to be thankful. The Bible says,

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thessalonians 5:18

Many years ago, a doctor made a tragic mistake that caused a little girl to lose her eyesight. The little girl, Fanny Crosby, was born with normal sight, but when she was only six weeks old, she had an infection in her eyes. The doctor put the wrong medicine in her eyes and it blinded her for life.

Because of the doctor's mistake, this little girl would never again see her mother's face. She would never see her friends and relatives. She would never see the blue skies or the white clouds. She would never see the beautiful trees and flowers.

She could have been bitter and resentful about what happened. She could have hated the doctor who made such a tragic mistake. She could have even blamed God for letting it happen. But she did none of these things.

Fanny Crosby had a grandmother who held her in her arms and taught her to know and love the Lord Jesus. As a small child she opened her heart to the Lord Jesus and took Him as her Savior.

Fanny Crosby's grandmother taught her to know and love the Lord Jesus.

As Fanny Crosby learned more about God and His great love in giving His Son to die for her, she gave herself to Him completely. Instead of being bitter about being blind, she trusted in God's love and wisdom.

Fanny Crosby did something else too. She made up her mind to be happy and content. When she was just eight years old, she wrote this poem:

When she grew up, Fanny Crosby began writing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God. She wrote over 6,000 hymns! Millions of people around the world have sung her songs such as, "To God Be the Glory," and "Blessed Assurance."

Though she was blind and spent her life in darkness, Fanny Crosby was one of the happiest Christians who ever lived. What was the secret of her happiness? It was this: She was thankful!

She did not understand why God had allowed her to become blind, but she trusted in God's love and wisdom. She didn't spend her time feeling sorry for herself. She thought about all the blessings she had as a child of God and she was thankful.

Will you begin now being thankful to God for all His blessings? Here is a prayer you can pray to Him:

God, I have not been thankful to You. I want to confess this sin to You right now and ask You to forgive me. I thank You for the way You made me. I am trusting You to make me what You want me to be.

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(A story series written by Edna Menzies.)

Mr. Douglas continued calling out the names of the camp buddies. Randy's buddy was a boy named Joey Maliski. He was short and wiry with a sun tanned face and a happy grin.

Suddenly Wendy gasped as she heard her name called along with a girl named Maggie Saunders. Wendy stared in disbelief as a chubby girl in a rumpled skirt and dirty sneakers made her way clumsily to the front ahead of Wendy. Maggie gave Wendy an uncertain smile as she held out her hand.

Wendy made her face smile back as she took Maggie's hot, sticky hand. As they sat down together, Wendy's thoughts tumbled about in her head. I want to love Maggie, she told herself. But how can I? She isn't even clean!

Just then Susan's name was called, and Wendy saw a pretty girl named Cheryl Tucker go up to meet Susan. Envy rose in Wendy's heart as she looked at Cheryl's lovely pink dress and bright golden curls that shone in the sunlight streaming through the window. Why couldn't 't I have a buddy like that? Wendy thought rebelliously.

A few minutes later she was ashamed of her unkind thoughts as Mr. Douglas spoke to them very earnestly. He reminded them that the Lord Jesus loved their buddies just as much as He loved them. He told them that Jesus had commanded us to love one another just like He loved us.

As Mr. Douglas dismissed them with a short prayer, Wendy determined in her heart that she would love Maggie. Turning to the girl beside her, Wendy smiled warmly as she said, "Hey, Maggie. Come and meet my friend Susan. Then we'll go over to your cabin."

Wendy's effort was rewarded by seeing the anxious look fade from Maggie's eyes as she mumbled, "OK." Then getting awkwardly to her feet, she followed Wendy toward the door.

When Wendy and Maggie got outside, they found Susan and Cheryl waiting for them. The four girls walked toward the cabins together. "What cabin are you in, Cheryl?" Wendy asked.

"Number eight," Cheryl answered. "And I was ten last week. I got two new dresses for my birthday. The other one is prettier than the one I have on. Do you want to see it?"

"Sure," Wendy answered. At the door of Cabin 8, Susan asked, "How old are you, Maggie? You didn't tell us yet."

Maggie looked down as she answered slowly, "I was ten three weeks ago. I —"

"Ten?" Cheryl interrupted. "You are so fat I thought you must be about twelve. I wondered why you were in our cabin."

Wendy looked at Maggie's unhappy face and turned to Cheryl indignantly. "Of course Maggie belongs in your cabin, Cheryl. And you shouldn't say things like that. It isn't kind."

"I only said she was fat, and she is. So what's wrong with that?" Cheryl demanded, beginning to look sulky. "Are you coming to see my new dress or aren't you?" She opened the door as she spoke and ran down the aisle between the beds.

The others followed her to her bed. Cheryl reached up, and from a line of pretty dresses she took down a yellow party dress. It was so lovely that it made the other girls gasp.

"Wow!" Susan exclaimed. "Are you going to wear that at camp?"

"Of course," Cheryl answered, looking surprised. "Why not?"

"Our teacher told us to bring mostly jeans and play clothes," Susan explained. She looked enviously at the line of dresses. She had never seen so many pretty ones except in a store.

"Come on, Maggie, take me to your bed," Wendy said quietly. Maggie's bed was further down the room and when they reached it Maggie flopped down on the bed and began to cry.

"I want to go home, Wendy," she sobbed. "I only have this skirt and two tops for it. I have a pair of jeans but they are so tight on me that the kids laugh when I wear them. But Mom didn't have any money to get me a new pair. Will you go with me to my counsellor, Miss Ardill? I'm going to tell her that I want to go home."

"Oh, Maggie, don't feel like that," Wendy said. "You will see that the kids wear jeans most of the time. But I will go with you to Miss Ardill and see if she can help us."

Miss Ardill proved to be a kind and efficient counsellor. She had a jolly laugh that cheered Maggie up quickly. And she said there were some clothes on hand that were kept for anyone who needed them. Wendy left Maggie in Miss Ardill's care and ran across to the play field to see if she could find Brian.

Brian and Randy were sitting under a tree talking. "What's wrong?" Wendy asked as she saw their serious faces. "I thought you would be playing ball."

Brian gave a quick look around, then he said, "Something has happened, Wendy. Sit down and I'll tell you about it."

"Is it Pete?" Wendy asked, slipping down on the grass beside them. "I hope he isn't giving you trouble, Brian."

"Shh! Not so loud," Brian said in a low voice. Then he continued, "Pete is OK - I think. But when we first went to his cabin and I was helping him unpack, he told me he didn't have any spending money. He said his 'old man' — that's what he calls his father — wouldn't give him any. He sounded real angry about it. So I went to my cabin to get a quarter to give him.

"But when I got back, Pete wasn't in his cabin. The only one there was a younger boy called Bobby. He was sitting on his bed near Pete's, and he was crying."

"Was he homesick?" Wendy asked, sympathy in her voice.

Brian shook his head. "No, he was crying because he had come to get the money that he had left in his suitcase and he said a whole dollar was missing."

"Oh," Wendy said, her eyes wide, "Do you think Pete took the money, Brian?"

"It sure looks like it," Randy put in. "But we have to be sure before we say anything."

"How can you be sure?" Wendy asked. "It could be any one of the other boys in the cabin. Remember what Mr. Douglas said about trying to help our camp buddy and loving him and everything. You won't be able to do that, Brian, if you doubt Pete right from the start."

"I know, Wendy," Brian answered, wrinkling his brow in a worried frown. "And I was just thinking of our golden verse and wondering if Jesus would want me to go and tell our counsellor, Mr. Kenneth. The trouble is that I don't think Pete is a Christian by the way he talked. He used some bad words and he said something about not liking the Bible lessons and having to memorize verses. So I'm afraid if I tell Mr. Kenneth now, Pete will be mad at me and I won't be able to help him become a Christian. "

"You can't tell Mr. Kenneth yet, Brian," Wendy insisted. "You don't have any proof."

"I have more than you think," Brian lowered his voice to a whisper as some kids were passing by. "Just a few minutes ago, I saw Pete, and he was eating a big double-dip ice cream cone. So where did he get the money to buy it? That's what we've got to find out!"

"And that's not all," Randy added. "While Brian was getting his money, I ran across to the kitchen for a minute. On my way back I saw Pete dash out of his cabin straight toward the canteen. Biff Frankson was standing there waiting for him, and they went into the canteen together. I know Biff, and he isn't a good guy to have for a friend. He visits a family down our street in the summertime, and the kids there are always in trouble when Biff is around."

Just then the supper bell rang. Brian jumped to his feet. "We'd better hurry and get in line," he said. "See me after breakfast tomorrow, Wendy. Maybe we will know something more by then."

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