We don't need self-esteem; we need Christ esteem! And I mean the esteem that He has for us. Self-esteem is as fragile as a spider's web, as fragile as dew on the grass. Tragedy strikes—or my own stupidity strikes—and self-esteem takes wing and flies out the window. But when one finds oneself in the unswerving, boundless love of Christ—without condition—then come what may, one's sense of well being, one's sense of worth is no longer in one's own hands, but in the wounded hands of the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us!

When I'm faced with the corruption of my own self-life (my flesh), self esteem evaporates like condensation on the glass; when I'm faced with this fickle self, one minute committed and surrendered, the next complacent or even rebellious, I remember those words, "the life I live in the flesh, I live by trusting the One who loved me and gave Himself up for me." And I find myself living in the vast open spaces of the love of Jesus—like the air that surrounds, pushing in on us at a constant 14.7 pounds per square inch so that even when we breathe the air comes rushing in. God's love is like that. He always loves—irrespective of our merit or performance or failure--whether we are aware at this moment or not—and when we turn and remember, His love comes rushing in like the air that we breathe!

What matters then is not what we think of ourselves, but what the One through whom all things were created thinks of us. He who created the expanse of the universe, who created the countless stars as the "small delicate handiwork of His fingers," loves you so much that He would rather die than live without you! What has He revealed you are worth? To show you, He stretched out His arms, nails driven through hands into splintering wood, body lifted up, precious blood spilt, and then giving up His Spirit, He gave up life—all in order that you could come to life into the wide open spaces—into the vastness of the air that surrounds—into the vastness of His immeasurable love for you! Who needs self-esteem, when you have the love of Christ!