Self-esteem can be a very fragile thing in a person’s life. In our world today you are only useful to people if you have money or influence. Nothing else matters to most people.
The life of a nobody can be a lonely one but can I share something with you? You are not a nobody to God. If you can ever accept that truth, you can live a better life knowing that you absolutely matter.
I remember an elderly lady in our church who would always remind us that God doesn’t make junk. Don’t let anyone make you feel like you aren’t good enough.
We matter.
I have spent most of my life being a nobody. I grew up with a poor self-esteem with a father I could never please and a mother who was very manipulative. I was never good enough. I was only acceptable if I did everything that people expected of me. People have rarely held me in any regard.
I still have my occasional times of insecurity but today my self-worth is not based on the expectations of others but in God’s love for me. It has taken a long time for me to get here.
If you feel like a nobody, let me tell you that you are looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. If you have money, people will love you until the money runs out. If you are person of influence, you are only somebody until the influence runs out. The good news is that with God, He loves you simply because He created you and He is interested in you.
I always think about what the verse in Luke 12 when Jesus compares us to sparrows and how we are more valuable to Him when He says that even the hairs on our hair are numbered. It’s not enough that He knows many hairs are on our head but that they are numbered. He wouldn’t waste that detail if He thought we were nobodies. We are important to Him. It think that is pretty important.
In the church, there are people who want to be spiritual superstars. They want a title such as prophet or deacon or doctor of theology. Having a title in front of our name or having perfect church attendance doesn’t make us any more special to God. God just wants good people. Everybody is somebody to God. There is no place for stars, just people who love God and love people.
If you feel like a nobody, just be yourself. Be who you are. It is too stressful and too much work to be someone you are not. Surround yourself with good people. Avoid people who belittle you.
The interesting thing is that people who think they are somebody also are nobodies to others. It is a vicious cycle in the need for significance. Being you is a lot less stressful.
We also get too concerned about what others think about us. If God loves us then what should it matter what other people think? In Romans 8:31 it says: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
You and I aren’t nobodies. We are loved and we don’t need money or influence to be somebody. We just need to be the best person that we can be.
