Self Esteem Esteemed

Let me share something that really enhanced my self esteem and helped me to overcome a medical diagnosis that predicted I would never talk, walk read, write or go to a regular school as a result of cerebral palsy.

It’s a short verse that comes from the book of Jeremiah Chapter one. Jeremiah was a prophet of God who had the difficult task of convincing God’s people to turn from ways that displeased God and follow him so that they could live with integrity and experience the good things of God. Unfortunately Jeremiahs warnings often fell on deaf ears.

But right from the beginning of Jeremiah’s life and before his difficult call as a prophet began; God spoke words of affirmation to him that I am sure penetrated to the core of his being. He said, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and set you apart to be my spokesmen to the world.”

The good news that I derive from that, both for Jeremiah, for you and me is that none of us are accidents. Whether our parents planned for us or not, whether we grew up in a dysfunctional, abusive or alcoholic home, whether we have been labeled obese, obsessive compulsive, lazy or bad tempered, all of this limiting language does nothing to diminish the infinite value and worth that God has placed on each one of our lives.





As Rick Warren says in his best selling book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” “Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. You are alive because God wanted to create you to be an expression of his love.

So if you struggle with low self esteem or self worth based on societal stigma or a painful familial history, take the opportunity today to drink in the words that God spoke to Jeremiah and apply them to yourself and your situation.

Remember, God’s love and his unique plan for your life didn’t begin at your birth. His love and his plan were already in motion before you were born.

What this means is that the next time someone tries to impose a hurtful stigma on you, or you recall something painful from your past which threatens to rob you of the joy and potential God has in store for you, remember that it is God who gets the first, last and final word on your life.

And it is He who declares to your heart today, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and set you apart to be my spokesmen to the world.”

Terry Harris

Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was two years old, Terry Harris in the opinion of many experts within the medical and education professions, would never walk, talk, read, write or go to a regular school. It was recommended to his parents that he beplaced in an institution. In 1995 Terry graduated from Brock University with a B.A. in English Literature and obtained a degree in marriage and family therapy in 1999 from Tyndale Seminary. Today Terry coordinates an academic support program for children of offenders with the John Howard Society of Kingston.