The Consequences of Fall and Our Distorted Self Image

1. Dealing With Our Broken
Lives
Part 1: The Consequences of Sin and Our
Distorted Self Image

2. Man Before Fall
 Man – the apex of creation (Gen. 1:31)
 Created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27)
 Given the authority to reign (Gen. 1:28)
 Be provided and cared for by God
(Gen. 1:29, Gen 2:16-17)
 To have meaningful relationships
With God (Gen. 2:15)
With each other (Gen. 2:18; 21-25)

3. Sin and Its Consequences
Gen 3:8 Separation from God – spiritual problem
Gen 3:7-10 Separation from oneself – through guilt,
shame, fear, etc. The root of our
psychological or emotional brokenness
Gen 3:12-16 Separation from each other: socio-
political problems – political, ethnic,
cultural, gender, etc
Gen. 3:17-19 Separation from nature/environment –
diseases, environmental, pollution; e.g.
diseases.

4. Sin and Its Consequences
 As a results of the Fall, all of us are insecure people –
to different extents, and in different areas of our lives
 Results in broken relationships with
God
Our own selves
Others
The world

5. Emotional Wounds
 God wants us whole
 The basis: the love of the Father – Romans 5:5; 8:15ff
 What causes emotional wounds?
 Growing years: e.g. conditional love, lack of warm and
affection in the family
 Later stage of life – BGR, friendships, marriage
breakdowns, divorce, bereavement
 Results of emotional wounds
 Lack of proper self-worth
 Marital problems, sexual problems; dysfunctional
behavior – bad temper, perfectionisms, etc

6. Self Image
 How we see ourselves influence every part of our lives
 Our self-image has a definite structure, composed of
conclusions we have reached about ourselves
Examples, parents labeling their child “stupid”
Housewife facing pressure from husband

7. Is the concept of having a healthy self-image biblical?

8. Self Image
 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and
drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
(Pro 23:7 KJV)
 How we see ourselves influence every part of our lives
and our actions.

9. Self Image
 The example of Joshua Num 13:33
 The spies’ view of themselves affected their
perspective on the whole situation
 Joshua and Caleb saw themselves in the light of the
presence of God, confident they could claim the
land
 They were not haughty, or overly self-confident;
neither were they filled with fear, holding a low
opinion of themselves
 Rather, they were God-confident.

10. Pride, Humility and Self
Esteem
“Many people confuse the distinction between pride,
humility and good self-esteem. The problem is not
that self-esteem contradicts the scriptures but rather
the words “pride” and “humility” are not correctly
understood in the total light of the scripture. Pride in
the biblical sense involves a non-honest estimates of
oneself.
Real humility is simply an absence of concentration
of oneself. It means that while I like and accept
myself, I don't need to prove my worth excessively
either to myself or to others.”
- Elizabeth Skoglund

11. Self Image vs Pride
Healthy Self Image Pride
Having a conviction that you Self centered focus rooted in
have fundamental value the pursuing of pleasures
because you are created in you can find in yourself for
His image what you believe you are or
in what you have
Give glory and thanks to God Seeking praise from men for
(Psalms 139:14) themselves for what God has
done in their lives.
A result of exaltation of self
while fail to recognize who
made them

12. Another Form of Pride
 Remaining in state of a low self image can actually
be a form of pride rather than humility
 Wants people to feel sorry for them, attention
seeking
 Another form of “look at me”; self-absorption, self-
obsession, selfishness
 Some people just refuse to get out of the rut of poor
self image because that is where they can get the
attention

13. The “Cannot-lah” Syndrome
If God says can, who am I to say “cannot”?
(Phil 4:13)

14. A healthy self-image is
seeing yourself as God
sees you – no more, no
less

15. Many of our weaknesses and limitations can be
channel of God’s glory to be displayed

16. The Need For A Healthy
Self-Image
 A healthy sense of self-worth is fundamental in
drawing us closer to God
 Elevates our concept of the God who gives us our
self-worth
 Elevates our concept of the worth of others, whom
we are to consider more highly than ourselves
 Without a healthy self-image, we become
preoccupied with self, concentrating on our own
needs, and constantly seeking the approval of
others

17. Once we see ourselves as God sees us, and realize who we
are – uniquely created in His image, and we’re loved,
forgiven, accepted – we are set free from self-
preoccupation to being concerned for others. Servanthood
seems to have its root in a healthy self-image.
If you free threatened by others, you will usually try to
overcome that by either making others look bad, or
struggling to make yourself looks good.

19. How We Decided
Our Self Image?
 From early childhood, we
assimilate information
from others regarding
ourselves in three
important areas of life:
 How do I look?
(Appearance)
 How am I doing?
(Performance)
 How important am I?
(Significance)

20. How Do I Look?
 We formulate a mental picture of ourselves based
on the praise or ridicule of other people
 For example: a young girl who has been told
repeatedly of her shape
 What we see in the mirror is interpreted largely by
others’ opinions about us that we hear and
remember
 The need for a “perfect” outward appearance
extends beyond our physical appearance – it
includes our material possessions – car, house,
latest gadgets, etc

21. How Am I Doing?
 How am I doing (in comparison with others)?
 A performance-work-oriented society
 Formulate a mental picture of ourselves based on
our successes or failures in the eyes of parents and
others. Some are longing to hear approval from
parents.
 Work addiction – seeking to build our self-image
based on performance. We feel good about ourselves
when we have accomplished many things, when we
are dog-tired from long hours of work.

22. How Important am I?
 Formulated a mental picture of ourselves based on
the feelings of acceptance we received from our
parents.
 A child has no other mirror besides the feedback
from the parents to reflect what kind of person he/
she is and whether he/she is worth loving
 One of the ways we worked out how important we
are to our parents is by the amount of time they
spent with us

23. As adults, we continue to evaluate our self-worth
based on how others perceive us.
The mental picture based on our past memories and
experiences continue to be imprinted into our
subconscious mind , and we go through life still
believing we are the same person we thought we were.

24. Maslow's
Hierarchy of
needs