Growing Your Child's Self-Worth
For the next few weeks, my radio features and online blog will focus on helping children grow in three areas…
- Self-Worth
- Self-Esteem
- Self-Confidence
As a parent, I believe the greatest thing you can say to help your child grow in the area of self-worth is “I love you”. This may seem simple, but I want to challenge you to think back to when you were a kid. Did you hear the phrase “I love you” often? If so, how did it impact your relationship with the person who said it? If not, how did that effect your thinking? More imporantantly, how did it impact how you viewed yourself?
Sadly I’ve spent much of my life serving kids who didn’t feel loved by their parents. As victims of abuse and neglect, these kids were craving, often emotionally starving to hear the phrase “I love you”. Since they rarely felt loved, they struggled to love themself, often turning to destructive behaviors. Saying “I love you” means “You are worth something to me” and “you are worthy of love”.
Whenever I board an aircraft, I hear the flight attendent say, “In case of a loss in cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling. Be sure to put your mask on first, before helping those around you. It is very difficult to give or show love if you have not first received or have been shown love. Teaching a child their worth through love is a precious gift. In the Bible, 1 John 14:19 says “We love because he first loved us.” This first shows that God’s demonstration of love provides us with the example of how to love. Parents can certainly do the same. When we are loved, it enables us to love others.