HeadHeartHand Blog Series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.”

A Book That Begins With A Lie

It’s never a good idea to start a book with a falsehood, but that’s how Joel Osteen begins his best-selling book, Your Best Life Now. Here’s the first sentence of the Introduction:

“The future is yours for the taking.”

Osteen clearly agrees with this common phrase, heard in many graduation ceremonies, as he goes on to explain why it doesn’t always work out for some people.

Contrast this opening falsehood with a truthful saying we often hear in Christian circles:

“We don’t know what the future holds, but we know God holds the future.”

Starkly different theologies right there.

The future is yours versus the future is God’s.

You can take the future into your own hands versus God holds the future.

These are two very different views of God, of humanity, and of living the Christian life.

A Slither of Truth
As with so much of Osteen’s theology, there’s a sliver of truth in what he’s saying. Our future is influenced by our present choices. But influenced by is very different from determined by.

Yes, what we choose today may have an impact on tomorrow, the next year, and even extend to future generations. Who we decide to marry, where we choose to live and work, whether to make that phone call or write that email, all of these things influence beyond the present moment and may have a bearing on the rest of our lives and on the lives of others.

However, that’s a very different thing to saying that we can take the future into our own hands and determine our future by our present choices. That completely fails to take account of the sovereignty of the God who has His own plan for our life and can thwart and overrule any of our choices.

This means that our good choices do not always mean happy outcomes, and, thankfully, bad choices do not always mean unhappy outcomes.

Yes, we must live responsibly and make our choices prayerfully, but all our choices are ultimately under the overall sovereignty of God.

A Terrifying Message
Although Osteen is trying to inspire people to take charge of their lives and make a better life for themselves in the future, his message here actually scares the wits out of me.

If the future is in my hands, then I will either work it out independently without reference to God’s wisdom, God’s glory, or God’s will for my life.

Or else I will be paralyzed with fear at the thought that I’m in total charge of my destiny and everything depends entirely upon my decisions.

That’s why I’m utterly baffled that Osteen can teach that the future is in our hands and then say:

“No matter where you are or what challenges you are facing, you can enjoy your life right now!” (K50)

There’s no way I could enjoy my life right now if the future is entirely in my hands. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or do anything profitable with that crushing responsibility on my shoulders.

But if my sovereign God not only knows but holds my future, if God can guide and bless my good choices and even overrule my bad choices for good, then I can enjoy my life right now.

Moreover, trust in God’s sovereignty means I can enjoy my life even in the midst of pain and suffering, even pain and suffering that has resulted from my poor decisions, and those of others.

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2015/01/19/a-book-that-starts-with-a-lie/

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Positive Negativity

Positive is always good, negative is always bad. According to Joel Osteen. In the opening pages of Your Best Life Now, he says:

“In each of these areas, you will find practical suggestions and simple choices that will help you to stay positive in your lifestyle and believe for a brighter future….To do that, you may have to rid yourself of some negative mind-sets that are holding you back, and start enlarging your vision, seeing yourself as doing more, enjoying more, being more.”

Here and elsewhere, Joel Osteen challenges our passivity, our defeatism, our fatalism. He calls us to rid ourselves of negativity and build more positive thought habits.

So what’s wrong with that? For some people, it’s exactly what they need to hear. We’ve all met them haven’t we? Sometimes we’ve been them. Recognize this description from Osteen?

“Many people go through life with low self-esteem, focusing on the negative, feeling inferior or inadequate, always dwelling on some reason why they can’t be happy.”

A pretty miserable existence isn’t it, both for the person and those who have to live, work, and worship with them.

They do need to be confronted with their unhealthy and unhelpful negativity, and called to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. That isn’t a call to false optimism, but a call to true realism.

However, Osteen goes further than this, way further, and sees all negativity as bad and positivity as only good. That is not biblical, truthful, or helpful.

Good Negativity
First, some negativity is accurate, true, good, and beneficial. It is right to examine ourselves for sin and ignorance, to repent of it when we find it, confessing it, humbling ourselves, and seeking forgiveness. This process of spiritual humiliation may not be a pleasant experience for us, but it is pleasing to God and necessary for any progress in the Christian life.

False Positivity
Second, some positivity is false and harmful. For example, if you tell a small man with short legs that he can do anything, even leap a 20 foot gap between buildings, his positive self-image is going to be splattered all over the pavement in short order.

Similarly, if you tell a sinful woman that she is essentially good, and can do good and be good unaided by God, then she will positively go to a negative eternity with a lie in her right hand.

No Foundation
Third, Osteen says that in his book “you will find practical suggestions and simple choices that will help you to stay positive.” But his proposed suggestions and choices are neither biblically accurate nor scientifically proven.

Over the last 20 years, a popular new science called “positive psychology” has produced many studies and books that claim to have found empirically proven ways to happiness. Although they won’t admit it, and they probably don’t even know it, many of them line up with the Bible’s teaching. But Osteen’s teaching lines up with neither the Bible nor science. Its only and shaky foundation is his own enthusiasm and sales skills.

Unrealistic
Fourth, Osteen’s positivity is completely unrealistic. For example, he says:

“I’m confident that if you will take these steps along with me, you ultimately will be happier than ever before, living with joy, peace, and enthusiasm— not just for a day, or a week, but for the rest of your life!”

To paraphrase a little, “If you will take these steps, then you will be happy, joyful, peaceful, and enthusiastic for the rest of your life.” These kinds of cast-iron, unqualified guarantees litter the whole book. If he’d said “you can” or “you may” be happier, etc., then that would be more acceptable. But he doesn’t; he says “you will.”

This totally fails to take account of the fallen world and the fallen human condition. Yes, we are called by God to grow in gifts, in grace, in joy, peace, and other fruits of the Spirit. But what happens when our teen is killed in a car crash, our husband gets ALS, age devastates our minds and bodies, our best friend dies of cancer, our daughter is raped, thousands are killed in acts of just war and evil terrorism, and so on?

Take a few simple steps and you will be happy, peaceful, and enthusiastic for the rest of your life? That may be true of Joel Osteen’s world, but it’s not living in the real world. Such a shallow and false message can only lead to disillusionment and demoralization.

Some well-founded and biblically grounded negativity can help us prepare for these inevitable days of pain and suffering, and get us through them to the place of eternal and unmixed positivity.

This is the second post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” The first post was A Book That Begins With A Lie.

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2015/01/20/positive-negativity/

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Your Average Life Now

If we grossly underestimate our God-given talents and abilities, then it’s unlikely that we will fulfill our potential.

If we grossly underestimate God’s power and love, then it’s unlikely that we will pray much, expect much, or do much for the Lord.

In chapter 1 of “Your Best Life Now,” Joel Osteen latches on to these two truths and then twists them so far that they become falsehoods.

He begins with a story about a modestly successful man who saw a large mansion while vacationing in Hawaii and said to himself, “I’ll never live in a great place like that.” Osteen comments:

“As long as you can’t imagine it, as long as you can’t see it, then it is not going to happen for you. The man correctly realized that his own thoughts and attitudes were condemning him to mediocrity. He determined then and there to start believing better of himself, and believing better of God.” (p. 3)

Do you see the grains of truth in there? The need to fairly evaluate one’s talents and abilities and the need to believe in the goodness and power of God?

But from these truths, Osteen makes the massive leap to “Imagine whatever you want about yourself or God and it will happen.” He calls us to “enlarge our vision” of self and of God:

“See your business taking off. See your marriage restored. See your family prospering. See your dreams coming to pass. You must conceive it and believe it is possible if you ever hope to experience it. To conceive it, you must have an image on the inside of the life you want to live on the outside. This image has to become a part of you, in your thoughts, your conversation, deep down in your subconscious mind, in your actions, in every part of your being.” (p. 4)

You don’t need to read much of Osteen to identify this recurring habit of starting with a truth – which builds our confidence – before sliding off into a falsehood

Look at some of his true-then-false statements

“What you keep before your eyes will affect you. You will produce what you’re continually seeing in your mind.” (p. 5)

True: “What you keep before your eyes will affect you.” (True because Jesus taught that the light of the body is the eye and what we let in the eye-gate will determine if we are full of light or full of darkness)

False: “You will produce what you’re continually seeing in your mind.” (False because no matter how much I imagine myself looking like Mr. Universe I cannot produce even a two-pack never mind a six-pack).

“But God wants us to constantly be increasing, to be rising to new heights. He wants to increase you in His wisdom and help you to make better decisions. God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, and creativity.” (p. 5)

True: “God wants us to constantly be increasing, to be rising to new heights.” (True because God calls us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ).

False: “He wants to increase you in His wisdom and help you to make better decisions. God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, and creativity.” (False because nowhere are we told that God wants us to be richer, more successful, and more innovative).

“You must stop dwelling on negative, destructive thoughts that keep you in a rut. Your life is not going to change until you first change your thinking.” (p. 7)

True: “You must stop dwelling on negative, destructive thoughts that keep you in a rut.” (Obviously true and consistent with Philippians 4:8. Although as we saw yesterday, some negativity is good for us.)

False: “Your life is not going to change until you first change your thinking.” (False because, thankfully, God often mercifully changes our lives before we change our thinking).

Conclusions
First, false teachers never ever teach 100% falsehood. There’s always just enough truth in their message to deceive a sufficient number of people. And, sadly, many people seem to be of the view that if there’s any truth in a message, it’s worth hearing.

Second, throughout these pages we look in vain for anyone asking God, “What do you want for me?” or “What’s your vision for my life?” God knows far better than I do what’s best for me and I’d much rather leave the envisioning to Him.

Third, even if my view of God is less than it should be, and it is, my Bible reassures me that God is not limited by my vision. He does exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think (Eph. 3:20).

Fourth, the worldliness of it all is appalling. The beatitudes speak of hungering and thirsting after righteousness. In this chapter, all Osteen seems concerned with is hungering and thirsting after money, houses, Miss America crowns (though not for himself), and other secular promotions.

If we want to enlarge our vision, how about “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” God blesses holy hearts with the largest and most satisfying vision of all.

Finally, where does “You shall not covet” fit into all this? Osteen says:

“You need to make a decision that you are not going to live an average, mediocre life.” (p. 8)

What happened to contentment (Heb. 13:5)? What’s so bad about an average, middle-of-the-road kind of life if it’s the life God wants us to live? There are lots of average Christians earning average salaries with average families. They are not to be despised, but encouraged, prayed for, and even admired as they serve God faithfully in their ordinary everyday obscurity.

This is the third post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” Previous posts were A Book That Begins With A Lie, and Positive Negativity.

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2015/01/21/your-average-life-now/

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The Worst Ever (Mis)Quotation Of The Bible?

The more we read and study the Bible, the more painful it becomes when we hear a verse quoted out of context and even used to advocate for the exact opposite of the verse in its context.

In reading through Joel Osteen’s book, Your Best Life Now, this pain is fairly constant. But the worst context-ripping and heart-rending example is Osteen’s use of Colossians 3:2 in Part 1: Enlarge Your Vision. Verses 1-2 read:

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

If this verse is teaching anything, it’s calling the believer to seek satisfaction and enjoyment in the spiritual realm not the material, in the eternal not in time, in heavenly pleasures not earthly pleasures, in spiritual wealth not in financial wealth, in Christ not in self.

Which, of course, is the exact opposite of what Osteen teaches.

So, how does he solve that “problem”?

Easy, just butcher the verse.

Osteen’s (per)version is, “Set your mind and keep it set on the higher things.”

Osteen manipulates and distorts this verse in three ways in order to make it fit his carnal agenda in total opposition to the Apostle Paul’s intent.

• “Things above” has been changed to “higher things.
• “Where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” has been conveniently chopped off.
• “Not on things on the earth” has also been eliminated.

With these three swift and not-so-subtle slashes of the knife, Osteen carves out the words he needs to justify equating “higher things” with greater money, possessions, power, popularity, promotions, and so on.

If we were in any doubt as to what Osteen is trying to do here, the remainder of Part 1 dispels them by his praise for example after example of rampant discontent, greed, and materialism.

The audacity of using a verse in God’s Word to promote exactly the opposite of what God intended that verse to teach is shockingly breathtaking. You’d think Osteen could find a verse or two that would be less obviously perverted and manipulated to support his deceit. But no, he takes one of the most “spiritual” verses in the Bible and mutates it into the most carnal agenda imaginable.

Perhaps it’s little wonder that verse one begins, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things that are above.”

In this case, it’s a big “if.”

This is the fourth post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” Previous posts were A Book That Begins With A Lie, Positive Negativity, and Your Average Life Now.

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2015/01/22/the-worst-ever-quotation-of-the-bible/

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My Favorite Joel Osteen Quote

“He’s called El Shaddai, the God of more than enough. He’s not El Cheapo, the God of barely enough!” (Joel Osteen)

Pretty good quote isn’t it.

The problem is that like so much of what Joel Osteen writes in Your Best Life Now, it’s followed by a deduction that is totally false. Here’s the fuller quote:

“He’s called El Shaddai, the God of more than enough. He’s not El Cheapo, the God of barely enough! Don’t let anybody convince you that God wants you to barely get by in life.”

So from “the God of more than enough” we suddenly jump to God wants you to have more than enough, that barely getting by in life is not God’s will for you. Quite the personal guarantee, isn’t it!

Breaking The Barriers Of The Past
But let’s back up a bit to the beginning of this fourth chapter, Breaking The Barriers Of The Past, because the chapter starts with a powerful and persuasive illustration of how mental barriers can hinder progress.

Osteen describes how, for hundreds of years, no one thought running a four-minute-mile was possible. Roger Bannister didn’t accept that thinking, and within ten years of him smashing the four-minute barrier, 336 other runners had done the same. Osteen concludes:

“The barrier to running a four-minute mile was in the athletes’ minds. For all those years, runners believed what the experts were saying. They were convinced that it was impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes.”

Osteen then applies this to our own lives and says:

“You will never go beyond the barriers in your own mind. If you think you can’t do something, then you never will. The battle is in your mind. If you are defeated in your mind, you’ve already lost the battle…The barrier is in your mind.”

Devastating Negativity
We have to admit, there’s a lot of truth in this. If we haven’t experienced the disabling power of negativity ourselves, then we certainly know people who have, and still do. No question, a pattern of negativity and defeatism devastates human potential.

Sometimes we are not entirely to blame for this. As Osteen explains, if we’ve had a terribly critical person in our upbringing, or if we are constantly around such a person, their negative words are going to damage us.

Other times, we are entirely to blame, and we have to take ourselves in hand, rebuke ourselves, and challenge ourselves to think more positively by thinking more truthfully, accurately, and realistically, a pattern we also see in the Psalms (e.g. Pss. 42, 73, 77).

A Necessary Challenge
A large part of the counseling I do with depressed Christians is focused on this particular area; the battle in the mind to break untrue and damaging patterns of thinking and replace them with true and energizing patterns. As Osteen says, we must work not to let our past determine our future:

“You can’t have a victim mentality and expect to live in victory. You can’t live in a perpetual pity party and then wonder why situations aren’t improving in your life…No matter what anybody in your family has or hasn’t done, don’t let that impose limitations on you. Make up your mind that you are going to be the one to set the new standard. Be the one to affect generations to come.”

Osteen’s right to challenge people to take responsibility to change the pattern of their lives, even of their family and of future generations, by refusing to pass down an attitude of failure and defeat to the next generation.

The problem is what he does next, which is promise if we do that, we will definitely see massive change in our lives and in that of future generations. Some examples:

“If you’ll break through the barriers in your mind and start stepping out in faith, you will go beyond those old barriers, and the same thing will happen in your family…Your children, grandchildren, and future generations will continue to race past those barriers.”

“The Bible promises that God will give us “a twofold recompense for our former shame” (Isa. 61:7). That means if you’ll keep the right attitude, God will pay you back double for your trouble. He’ll add up all the injustice, all the hurt and pain that people have caused you, the abuse and embarrassment, and He’ll pay you back with twice as much joy, peace, and happiness. That is God’s desire for you.”

He describes those who are accepting sub-standard marriages, health, jobs, and income and says:

“This is not the lifestyle God intends for you. God wants you to live an overcoming life of victory, He doesn’t want you to barely get by. He’s called El Shaddai, the God of more than enough. He’s not El Cheapo, the God of barely enough! Don’t let anybody convince you that God wants you to barely get by in life.”

Recognize that quote? Doesn’t look quite so good now, does it? God can give us more than enough, and often does. But His promises extend only to sufficiency (2 Cor. 12:9). Osteen then goes from bad to worse:

“Don’t just accept whatever comes your way in life. You were born to win; you were born for greatness; you were created to be a champion in life.”

“Many times, we pray almost as though we are inconveniencing God. We say, “God , would You please give me a bit bigger apartment? I don’t want to bother You for too much.” No, God wants to give you your own house. God has a big dream for your life.”

Ungrounded Promises
As these are merely Joel Osteen’s promises, not God’s, they have no foundation whatsoever. Yes, God calls us to great faith and to expect much in prayer, but there’s nothing in the Bible that warrants us giving others such personal guarantees as:

• Your children and grandchildren will do even better than you.
• God does not want you to barely get by in life.
• You were born to win.
• You were born for greatness.
• You were created to be a champion in life.
• God wants to give you your own house.
• God will give you twice as much joy, peace, and happiness as pain you have suffered.

Yes, it’s right for a Christian to have a positive, optimistic, hopeful attitude (if it’s based on the character of God and the Word of God). And yes, such an expectant outlook of faith will generally lead to a better life: spiritually, physically, relationally, and even financially. However, we can’t go around guaranteeing ourselves or anyone else that. Every prayer and desire must be prefaced and postscripted with, “Not my will, but your will be done,” or “If it be your will” (not “Because it’s Joel’s will”).

As many Christians can testify (and many have testified), sometimes the best thing that could ever happen for us spiritually is to lose our friends, our finances, our health, and just about everything else too. When we lose everything, but win Christ, God has truly repaid us double and even triple for our losses.

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yes indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8).

This is the fifth post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” Previous posts were A Book That Begins With A Lie, Positive Negativity, Your Average Life Now, and The Worst Ever (Mis)Quotation Of The Bible.

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2015/01/26/my-favorite-joel-osteen-quote/

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Triviality of Trivialities

According to Joel Osteen, if you have the favor of God, you will:

• Be given premier parking spaces while everyone else is driving forever in circles.
• Get your child into your favorite school even if he is four days too young.
• Escape speeding tickets.
• Find restaurant tables in crowded restaurants.
• Get waved into the best traffic lane.
• Find checkouts opened just for you when all the lines are packed.
• Get blouses for sale prices before the sale starts.
• Be bumped up to first class seats on airplanes.

In chapter 5 of Your Best Life Now, Osteen says that having the favor of God means that God will “make your life easier, ” by giving you similar “special advantages” and “preferential treatment.”

And how do we get such “favor”? Easy:

“Every morning before you leave the house, say something like this: ‘Father, I thank You that I have Your favor. Your favor is opening doors of opportunity. Your favor is bringing success into my life. Your favor is causing people to want to help me.’”

Like Osteen, I’m all for seeing God in everyday life, recognizing His goodness even in the small things of life, and living the whole of life before God. But, when this is the full extent of Osteen’s examples of God’s favor, I cannot help exclaim, “Triviality of trivialities. All is triviality.” It’s all so small, so shallow, so petty, so paltry, so insignificant, so, well, so trivial. If that’s the extent of God’s favor, it doesn’t say much for God. Indeed it says, “Your God is too small, your God is too trivial.”

I have four questions for Osteen based on what he wrote in chapters five and six:

1. What do you have to say to sufferers? To the rape victim, or the abused child, or the 21-year-old with multiple sclerosis, or the gifted and godly father with ALS, or the mother grieving over her son killed in a road accident?

2. Where’s God’s fatherly chastisement in your scheme? Are we not told that being disciplined by God is a sign of His favor (Heb. 12:6)?

3. What about spiritual favor? Why do you have little or nothing to say about God’s favor being manifested in spiritual graces of regeneration, repentance, faith, patience, contentment, and so on? Are these not worth far more than a cheap blouse or even a first-class seat?

4. Do you really think King David proves your point? You wrote:

“David didn’t focus on his faults or on the things he had done wrong. No, he lived favor-minded. It was David who wrote, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Notice, he was expecting goodness and mercy, not part of the time, but all the days of his life. I like the way The Message translation puts it: “God’s kindness and goodness chases me down everywhere I go.” David’s attitude was, “I just can’t get away from the good things of God!”

I’m tempted to ask if you’ve read Psalm 51? Or anything after 2 Samuel 12v13. If you had, you would realize that David couldn’t get away from the sword of God. As Nathan the prophet said, it never departed from his house. Sure, he was forgiven, but God’s loving chastisement for his sin also followed him for the remaining days of his life. And for all the pain of it, David would say that also was one of the good things of God, one of the proofs of His favor.

This is the sixth post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” Previous posts were A Book That Begins With A Lie, Positive Negativity, Your Average Life Now, The Worst Ever (Mis)Quotation Of The Bible, and My Favorite Joel Osteen Quote.

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2015/01/27/triviality-of-trivialities/

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What Is A Healthy Self-Image?

“You must base your self-image on what God’s Word says about you, rather than on false, fickle standards…”

“How you see yourself and how you feel about yourself will have a tremendous impact on how far you go in life….”

“Self-esteem is that deep-down feeling you have about yourself. It’s how you regard yourself, your opinion or judgment of your own value…”

“Your self-image is much like a self-portrait; it is who and what you picture yourself to be….Who do you think you are?”

Sounds like a good biblical counselor doesn’t it?

It’s actually Joel Osteen!

And he’s right. Right in these partial definitions of self-image and self-esteem, and right in his assessment of how beneficial an accurate self-image is. As he says in chapter 7 of Your Best Life Now:

“A healthy self-image is one of the key factors in the success and happiness of any individual. The reason your self-concept is so important is: You will probably speak, act, and react as the person you think you are. Psychologists have proved that you will most consistently perform in a manner that is in harmony with the image you have of yourself.”

It’s common sense, isn’t it. As Osteen says:

“If you see yourself as unqualified, insignificant, unattractive, inferior, or inadequate, you will probably act in accordance with your thoughts….On the other hand, individuals who view themselves as God sees them are usually happy about who they are.”

He’s also right to note that our self-image may be largely the result of what other people have said about us or to us, how others have regarded us. Thus his main challenge in this chapter is well worth hearing:

“The question is, does your image of who you are line up correctly with who God says you are?”

A great question. Unfortunately, Osteen’s answer ahout who God says we are is all wrong in all three tenses of our self-image – past, present, and future tense.

Past Tense: Who I was

Although Osteen makes passing reference to a few flaws and imperfections that some of us may have, he doesn’t go anywhere near far enough in his understanding of the fall and the corrupting impact of sin upon us.

It’s a vital part of our self-image to understand that we were “born dead in sins,” with hearts that are “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,” that “all the imaginations of our hearts are only evil continually,” and that God is justly angry with us in that state. You won’t find this humbling biblical view of who we were anywhere in Osteen’s writing.

Instead of sins, we seemingly have but a few minor flaws which we are not only to accept but even love, because “that’s how our heavenly Father loves us.” Osteen even seems comfortable with the inevitable head-swelling, chest-puffing effect of this teaching:

“We must learn to love ourselves, faults and all, not because we are egotists or because we want to excuse our shortcomings, but because that’s how our heavenly Father loves us. You can hold your head up high and walk with confidence knowing that God loves you unconditionally.”

Some might say that Osteen is referring to the Christian here. Part of the problem is that Osteen rarely if ever distinguishes between the Christian and the non-Christian. Everyone is addressed in the same general way, without discrimination.

But even if we do say Osteen is speaking to a Christian here, the Christian must always remember what he was before conversion. No matter how assured and sanctified he becomes, he must always remember what he once was. We see this repeatedly in the Apostle Paul’s testimony and in other eminent Christians through the years. A healthy self-image must take account of how unhealthy we are.

Present Tense: Who I am

There are four important areas of self-image in the present tense.

1. I am now a saint. This is the most important – and ought to be the most prominent – part of the Christian’s self-image. Consider this sample of summary statements about what God has done for us, all through Christ, all by grace, and all essential elements of our self-image.

• I am born again
• I am forgiven
• I am justified
• I am accepted
• I am redeemed
• I am adopted
• I am indwelt by God, and so on, and on…

2. I am still a sinner. Although all the above are true, our original corrupt nature is still very much part of us. Again, this is both a cause for our humility (Romans 7) and a springboard for entering more and more into God’s steady love for us despite our ongoing sins and sinfulness.

3. I am gifted by God. Although giftedness is where the world wrongly starts with self-image, Christians must not over-react by ignoring it. We must not let our prioritizing of the spiritual, and our views of our total depravity and our ongoing battle with sin, squeeze out all consideration of how God has blessed us with natural gifts. There’s nothing wrong, and plenty right, with us encouraging ourselves and other Christians by recognizing God’s blessing each other with attractive and helpful personalities, and also wonderful natural gifts and abilities.

4. I am blessed with relationships. Osteen’s view of self-image is way too selfish. It is entirely focused on the individual, isolated and detached from other people. But a large part of who we are is defined by who we are related to and involved with in our lives. We cannot define ourselves without defining ourselves in relation to others – our value to them and they to us.

Future Tense: Who I will be

A big part of being human is having a future focus; looking ahead to the kind of person we want to be and what we will do in the future. Joel Osteen certainly has a future tense in his view of self-image but it’s entirely focused on success in this world – what we will earn, what we will own, what we will achieve. It’s all about winning here below, about becoming a champion in our careers and other earthly spheres.

The Bible’s view of our future is very much focused on heaven (and then the new heavens and the new earth) and about what God will yet do to us, for us, and with us as He glorifies our souls at death and then our bodies at the general resurrection. This future hope creates joyful optimism and anticipation as we look ahead to how God will transform our imperfect images into His perfect image. In words that encapsulate the past, present, and future tenses of a healthy self-image, the Apostle John wrote:

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

This is the seventh post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” Previous posts were A Book That Begins With A Lie, Positive Negativity, Your Average Life Now, The Worst Ever (Mis)Quotation Of The Bible, My Favorite Joel Osteen Quote, and Triviality of Trivialities.

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2015/02/02/what-is-a-healthy-self-image-joel-osteens-answer/