Romans 12:3

Romans 12:3
I googled "self esteem," and 40,700,00 results came up in .41 seconds!  I think it's safe to say that this is a subject that millions of people find important or interesting or needful. I have no doubt that many if not most people at some time or other suffer from lack of self-esteem or insecurity. But what does the Bible say about all this?

Romans 12:3 says, "Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning. Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us." (New Living Translation)

Romans 12:3 "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." (New King James Version)

OK, let's keep the big picture in mind here. Romans 12-15 deals with relationships. Romans 12:1-2 is about our relationship to God; v. 3 is about our relationship to ourselves; vv. 4-13 is about our relationship to the church, vv. 14-21 about our relationship to our enemies; Romans 13 relationship to the government; Romans 14 and 15 talk to us about differences with other believers. So out of all this, Paul devotes ONE verse about ourselves and in that one verse, he tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought! I'm wondering if maybe we think TOO MUCH about ourselves. Even if we have so-called low self-esteem, isn't that really still "all about me'?

It seems to me that the secret here is to think of ourselves the same way God does.On one hand we are nothing in ourselves; we are hopeless sinners totally unable to do anything to save ourselves and dependent on what God has done for us.  On the other hand, if we're believers, born into God's family, we are royalty--heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We are made in God's image, and He thought it worthwhile to send His own Son to be punished in our place. When we place our faith and trust in Jesus, He gives us the gift of salvation and along with that the Holy Spirit who lives within us. And so we are blessed in every way, but not because of anything we have done. Indeed, we have no reason to boast, but neither should be down on ourselves. We can have confidence in ourselves because of what God has done!