How to succeed at being YOURSELF.

It's tough to enjoy life when you don't like yourself. People who have not learned to accept and get along with themselves tend to have more difficulty accepting and getting along with others. Yet, the Bible repeatedly tells us to "Love your neighbour as yourself.

The Bible says a good tree will bear good fruit and a rotten tree will bear rotten fruit. Likewise the fruit of our lives comes from the root within us. If you are rooted in shame, guilt, inferiority, rejection, lack of love and acceptance, etc. The fruit of your relationships will suffer. However, once you have a revelation of God's unconditional love for you and begin to accept yourself and others, eventually these new roots will produce good fruit and your relationships will thrive.

Here are some few tips that will help you succeed at being yourself.

1. Never say or think negative things about yourself such as "I never do anything right" "I will never change" "I am terrible" "I am foolish" "Who could ever love me?" etc. Matthew 12:37 says by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. Proverbs 23:7 says as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. In other words, the way we talk and think about ourselves reveals how we feel about ourselves.

2. Speak good things about yourself in line with what the Word says about you. For example "I am the righteousness of God in Christ" "I am made acceptable in the Beloved" "God created me and formed me with his own hands and God doesn't make mistakes. Starting your day with positive confessions help. You can do this while you drive to work or in front of a mirror and say it loud. This is beneficial to people who have lacked love and acceptance in their lives.

3. Never compare yourself with other people. God must love variety or He wouldn't have created us all differently, even down to our fingerprints. You will never succeed at being yourself if you are trying to be like someone else. Other people can be a good example to you but duplicating even to their good traits will manifest differently through your individual personality.

4. Focus on your potentials instead of your limitations, try and develop your God given talents without looking at the limitations in the world. Take a first step, leap and grow. Ignore people who talk down on your dreams, leave your comfort zone and build yourself. Personal development is necessary in all fields of life.

5. Have the courage to be different and deal with constructive criticism. Be a God-pleaser and not a man-pleaser (See Galatians 1:10) if you dare to be different, you will have to expect some criticism. Going along with the crowd when you know in your heart God is leading you somewhere is one reason people don't succeed at being themselves. You won't like yourself very much if you go against your own convictions.

6. Keep your flaws in perspective. People with high level of confidence have just as many weaknesses as people without confidence but they concentrate on their strengths, not their flaws or weaknesses.

In conclusion, let me remind you of my opening statement: when you learn to succeed at being yourself, you will be well on your way to enjoying life more fully.