The Biblical View of Self-Esteem, Self-Love, and Self-Image

Great book Biblically calling out helicopter parenting styles and their consequences. At first I thought it was a recent book as it was so on target for 2013, yet my copy was first published in 1984. Almost prophetic. Telling our kids they are "wonderful and awesome" just for being on the team is killing our society. They absolutely have to understand that to be great at anything requires hard work. Life does not give you a trophy just for trying. Jay Adams backs up everything up with both scripture and research. (I first heard of Jay Adams through ministry of John MacArthur as he cites his research often). Great book especially for parents of small children if you truly want to prepare them for what lays ahead in this mixed up, relativism based, "I'm OK, you're OK" world.

Excellent book, highly recommended

The popularity of focusing on self (self-esteem, self-love, self-image) was reaching tremendous heights when Jay Adams wrote this book. Adams examined Biblical teachings on the self and compared that teaching with the current popular focus on self with the result that many people were and many were confirmed in their thinking on the topic. Where will you stand as you read through the book?

I chose this rating because it is deserved. Mr. Adams steps up to the plate and tells the truth, vs. all this "me-ism) bull that has covered our school systems and media. If this bull he steps on is truth, then someone has sure been naughty for the past few thousand years in keeping it a secret. Truth is, this idea is just that; an idea. One whose time has come, but no grave has been dug for it yet. Mr. Adams makes a start by pronouncing the truth. Mankind loves themselves by default and acts thereon. We have far too me folks who think that they are the center of the universe.

Jay Adams challenges the current world view and psychology of self in the book by evaluating what God has to say in the Bible. Even in the church today, we need to evaluate how we view these things compared to what God has to say.

This book evaluates the Biblical foundation of the "positive self-esteem" movement. The main premise of the position, as presented by the author, is that a person's view of self is essentially the most important thing imaginable. People need to have good feelings about themselves. If anything makes people "feel bad," such as being told they are a sinner by the Bible, then the Bible needs to change (or our understanding of the Bible). Although the books I dated in the mid-80's, the problem is still with us more than ever, thus I suppose the importance of the topic stressed by the author was quite appropriate. The initial chapter of the book is a hodge-podge survey of popular psychology literature in the 80's, showing clearly the dangerous pattern of how self became the most important word. I was especially happy to see the author resort to the Scriptures for answers about how to find their value to the Lord. He does cite many verses, and points out a lot of useful insights. But the book does lack a little Scriptural rigor. It is really meant more as an apologetic against the self-esteem movement, and it is not really designed to teach from the Scriptures the really view of self one should derive from the scriptures. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is to see how some Christians have twisted the Scriptures to make it fit to secular man-centered theories. Some of these "Christian" authors have a very poor command of the Scriptures, and Adams should be commended for calling out their errors. This section of the book is a good reminder of the need for sound exegetical principles, and how almost anything can be made to sound palatable if you twist it enough. This is a quick read and has some helpful points, so for that reason and the treatment of Scripture-twisting I'd recommend it. But I'm still going to search for other books on the topic.

When Adams wrote this book in 1986 I wonder if he had insight of what today's church would look like in 2020. We have always had self-esteem preachers in the world. The power of positive thinking, think and achieve, and the such. This book lays down the real reason we on this earth. To bring God glory through Jesus Christ. I read this for a class in a master's degree program. The overwhelming idea of self has penetrated the most biblical churches in America. This book is an easy read and will help anyone, Christian or non-christian alike to have a better understanding of a healthy look in the area of self.

This a quick, yet helpful read for today's modern culture. Adams reminds us that self-love and self-esteem is a given in scripture, that those who have "low" self esteem really think of themselves too much rather than thinking of others. The charge is biblical and effective for those "suffering" with "low self-esteem".