The Spirit of Low Self-esteem – Hepher (Well; Pit of Shame):

This evil spirit will constantly accuse people, causing them to fall into the pit of inferiority, self-condemnation and shame, unable to extricate themselves.

Concept:

Inferiority Complex refers to a person who has a strong sense of inadequacy or insecurity, which affects a person's overall adaptability. The so-called strong sense of inadequacy refers to the evaluation of one's own abilities or conditions, and it is obvious that one feels that there are many deficiencies. The so-called insecurity is the panic caused by one's serious sense of inadequacy in life adaptation, and often feels that one is being blamed or violated.

Inferiority complex also comes from accepting things that the world cares about, such as outward appearance, IQ, financial status, etc. Such worldly values lead to many behaviors and emotions that are inconsistent with biblical truth. Such incorrect emotions are inferiority complex.

Main manifestations:

1. Sensitive

Overly sensitive and have a strong sense of inferiority. People in the vulnerable group want to be valued by others, but are afraid of being ignored. They place too much emphasis on others’ evaluation of themselves. Any negative evaluation will lead to intense inner conflicts, and they may even distort others’ evaluations. For example, they may distort others’ sincere praise and think it is sarcasm. They are very sensitive, and you need to be careful when interacting with such people, because a casual word from others will cause the other party to have inner turmoil and start make random guesses.

2. Imbalance

Due to various reasons, they are in a disadvantaged position and cannot see their own value in society, and may even be rejected by others. They often lose their self-worth experience in life, causing an imbalance in their mentality, falling into a vicious psychological experience, unable to get out of the shadow, and it is difficult to get rid of the real predicament. Usually, people with low self-esteem will identify with their disadvantaged identity very much, and this strong inferiority complex will also lead to suicidal behavior.

3. Emotional

An inferiority complex can make a person appear to be submissive, but excessive repression can accumulate energy that can explode at any time. Due to a lack of coping skills, life events such as unemployment, divorce, and illness can easily lead to inferiority complex. When treated unfairly, people will feel that they are being despised by others, which is unbearable, and they often act aggressively.

Causes of low self-esteem:

1. Accept the world’s perspective and live in the eyes of others.

• External appearance refers to a person's appearance.

In the world's perception, if a person is beautiful, then that person has high value, otherwise he or she has little value. However, the truth of the Bible teaches us that a person's value does not depend on his or her appearance. Moreover, God sees each person differently.

 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

• IQ

People in the world believe that a person's value is directly related to his IQ, but this is a lie of the enemy. A person's value does not come from whether he is smart or not. When the Lord Jesus was choosing his disciples, he did not choose the ones with the highest IQ or the most capable ones. Instead, he chose ordinary people who could not be more ordinary.

For yourselves consider your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. (1 Corinthians 1:26)

• Financial Status

Money is an important criterion for evaluating a person in the world. Being rich represents success and represents a person's value. This is also a trick of the enemy to deceive people, causing materialism to run rampant in the world. However, the Bible teaches us:

For one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. (Luke 12:15b)

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. (1 Timothy 6:9)

Now godliness with contentment is great gain, (1 Timothy 6:6)

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. (1 Timothy 6:7)

And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:8)

2. Unprocessed frustrating experiences in our childhood upbringing.

There are many frustrating experiences in a person's growth and background. If these experiences are not dealt with in a timely manner, it will make a person feel unworthy of praise, unworthy of receiving gifts from others, unworthy of love, etc., and even in serious cases, he or she will develop an unwarranted sense of guilt towards himself or herself.

In the Bible, Peter is a good example. When Peter denied the Lord three times, he went back to fishing again after Jesus was crucified. When Jesus resurrected from the dead and appeared to the seven disciples, he saw Peter's "unworthy" mentality, encouraged him, asked Peter three times about his love for the Lord, and called Peter back to feed the Lord's sheep.

3. Often comparing oneself with people around, which leads to a mentality that is not in line with reality or pretending to be good, which is actually to cover up one's own inferiority complex.

The story of Esau and Jacob is recorded in Genesis 25:

So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. (Genesis 25:27-28)

Jacob faced his inferiority complex since childhood with an unrealistic mentality. His mother Rebekah conspired with him to use deception to satisfy her own sense of superiority and thus cover up her inferiority complex. When Esau learned that his title as the eldest son was taken away by Jacob, he became angry and hateful, and wanted to harm Jacob to cover up his inferiority complex facing his family and servants in the second half of his life.

Source: Pastoral Ministry Department of End-Time Ministry (Please notify us promptly if any copyright infringement is involved.)