The Bible says, in James 3, we can use the gift of speech to our advantage or our disadvantage. We can use words to build a positive self-image or make sure we have a negative self-image. Our self-image will affect our self-confidence and how we see the world around us. So if you use the gift of speech to your disadvantage, you will struggle in life. If you use the gift of speech to your advantage, you will succeed in life and find it easy to learn new things and relate to people around you.
No one in their right mind would use the gift of speech to tear down your self-image. But if you stop and listen to your inner dialogue during the day, you would soon discover how most of us are using the gift of speech to our disadvantage. This has mostly to do with us being confused about the differences between a positive self-image and having self-confidence.
What you succeed in or dont succeed in should not affect your sense of self-worth and self-image. You can fail in life and still have a positive self-image and see yourself as being valuable.
How? How is this possible when we live in such a performance-based society that quickly judges you on what you do, or dont do instead of your value as a human being?
By seeing yourself the way, God sees you.
In Ex 4:22, Jeremiah 31:20-23, Isaiah 56, Romans, the Bible says Israel is God’s beloved son. In Hebrew, it does not say Israel; instead, it uses Yehudi, so we could just as well translate it as all Yehudi are God’s beloved sons. A Yehudi is not just someone from the tribe of Judah, Mordechai in the book of Esther was from the tribe of Benjamin, but the Bible says he was a Yehudi. Daniel was not from the tribe of Judah, but the Bible says he was a Yehudi. Why? Because Yehudi refers to two things, both people from the tribe of Judah and a worshiper of Yehovah. Because Daniel and Mordechai refused to bow down to an idol and remained faithful to Yehovah, they were called Yehudi.
In Romans and Isaiah 56, the Bible says a Yehudi worships Yehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regardless of their DNA or ancestry. This is why Paul says in Romans 2 not all Yehudi are born in Israel because not all natural-born Israelites worship Yehovah.
Yehudi consists of the three first letters in the name Yehovah, just as Yeshua or Yehoshua has in it the name of Yehovah.
When the Bible speaks of the name in Hebrew, it refers to a person’s given name, character, and essence. So when someone is a carrier of the name of Yehovah, as in the name Yehudi or Yehoshua, that person takes upon themselves the character and essence of Yehovah.
The Bible says if you are reconciled to Yehovah by the cross and have repented back to the law of Moses, Yehovah no longer sees you as a gentile. You are now a Yehudi, a carrier of His name and a beloved son or daughter.
If you see yourself as a Yehudi, you can use the gift of speech to remind yourself how your Father Yehovah loves you, promises to protect and care for you, and to be with you even in the valley of the shadow of death. (John 3:16, Matt 6:25-34, Deut 28:1-14, Psalm 23)
So use the gift of speech today to your advantage by agreeing with Yehovah and see yourself the way He sees you, as a Yehudi.
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