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The Biblical View of Self-Esteem, Self-Love, and Self-Image by Jay E. Adams
Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Familiar questions in our day and age. But has our search for answers led us too far in the wrong away from our true position in Christ and toward a dangerous emphasis on self? Recent decades have seen the rise of a powerful and influential movement within the church. Identified by labels such as “self-image,” “self-esteem,” “self-worth,” and “self-love,” this movement has one common denominator—the emphasis on self. Regardless of religious persuasion, everyone seems to be fighting what they perceive to be a shared low self-esteem. Now well-known biblical counselor and noted author Jay Adams brings much-needed clarification to the area of self-esteem and offers the church and every believer a truly biblical view of self.
Paperback
First published September 1, 1986
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About the author
Jay E. Adams
229 books144 followersJay Edward Adams is a Reformed Christian author. He has written over 100 books and these have been published in sixteen languages.
He received a Bachelor of Divinity from Reformed Episcopal Seminary, a Bachelor of Arts in Classics from Johns Hopkins University,a Masters in Sacred Theology from Temple University, and a PhD in Speech from the University of Missouri.
Adams' book Competent to Counsel launched the nouthetic counseling movement, a movement whose aim was to use strictly biblical counseling methods. He is the founder of the Intitute for Nothetic Studies.
He received a Bachelor of Divinity from Reformed Episcopal Seminary, a Bachelor of Arts in Classics from Johns Hopkins University,a Masters in Sacred Theology from Temple University, and a PhD in Speech from the University of Missouri.
Adams' book Competent to Counsel launched the nouthetic counseling movement, a movement whose aim was to use strictly biblical counseling methods. He is the founder of the Intitute for Nothetic Studies.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 2, 2020
A short, straightforward, and biblically driven pamphlet on self-esteem. The fact is we already love ourselves enough… what we really need to do is love God and deny ourselves more!
July 11, 2016
More a rant than a thoughtful book...I wish he spent much less time emphatically denouncing self-worth ideas and much more on what does a biblical view of self look like ??(as per the title)...
April 21, 2021
In this pamphlet, Addams warns us against adopting secular concepts into our "christian minds". He argues that the methodology of adopting a pagan system and then adding Bible verses to support it is always dangerous - and the problem of self-esteem is an example of such dangerous method.
In the first part, the biblical verses that christian psycologists use to defend their views on self-love are being analyzed. The obvious conclusion is that "they are in error because they do not know the Scripture" - and they will not know it very soon because their exegesis is flawed.
In the second part, Addams offer a brief presentation of the biblical view of the self that teach against self-love, self-worth and self-esteem.
As Addams concludes, "Love itself is the very cessation of self-directed, self concerned, self centered living. That's why living for Christ and others out of love for them points us away from ourselves."
This is a short but concise material on secular versus biblical views on self-esteem/love/image, and is also an excellent starting point for a biblical study, adressing some of the most eloquent Bible passages on this theme.
In the first part, the biblical verses that christian psycologists use to defend their views on self-love are being analyzed. The obvious conclusion is that "they are in error because they do not know the Scripture" - and they will not know it very soon because their exegesis is flawed.
In the second part, Addams offer a brief presentation of the biblical view of the self that teach against self-love, self-worth and self-esteem.
As Addams concludes, "Love itself is the very cessation of self-directed, self concerned, self centered living. That's why living for Christ and others out of love for them points us away from ourselves."
This is a short but concise material on secular versus biblical views on self-esteem/love/image, and is also an excellent starting point for a biblical study, adressing some of the most eloquent Bible passages on this theme.
December 13, 2008
All Christians simply would benefit from a read of this book which is basically a study of the heartset of Jesus call to us in Luke 9:23.
Deny, Die and follow Jesus. That is where real life begins.
Deny, Die and follow Jesus. That is where real life begins.
January 28, 2017
What does the Bible say or imply about the concepts of self-love, self-esteem, and self-image which are so frequently discussed today? Are they the keys to a healthy Christian life? Such questions are worthy of investigation for a Christian interested in taking every thought captive to Christ. Jay Adams encourage us to look at what the Bible says that is relevant to these concepts, and comes to more Biblical conclusions, I believe, than many other writers.
November 29, 2008
"Love, joy, peace, etc., are discussed as if they were not the fruit of the Spirit but merely the fruit of right views of one's self which anyone can attain without the Bible or the work of the Spirit in his heart."
-pg 65
-pg 65
October 12, 2012
This was a thoroughly Biblical examination of the widespread belief in the necessity for "high self-esteem." I highly recommend this book.
May 23, 2023
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
This is so amazing, necessary and timely! Adams unpacks the humanistic, worldly self-love concept and shows from Scripture just where it errs. He disarms psychology in light of the Word of God. It almost seems that everything that he is saying should be natural to every Bible believing Christian, but sadly that is not the case, because the voice of the world is so loud, that many get deceived.
Recomended if you believe in self-love psychology and if you want to disprove it. In either case, you will benefit from this short, comprehensive and logical book.
This is so amazing, necessary and timely! Adams unpacks the humanistic, worldly self-love concept and shows from Scripture just where it errs. He disarms psychology in light of the Word of God. It almost seems that everything that he is saying should be natural to every Bible believing Christian, but sadly that is not the case, because the voice of the world is so loud, that many get deceived.
Recomended if you believe in self-love psychology and if you want to disprove it. In either case, you will benefit from this short, comprehensive and logical book.
April 28, 2025
"For a Christian, the alternative to self-love, self-esteem, self-worth and any other kind of self-centred teaching that might appear in the future, is clearly SELF-DENIAL"
An interesting insight on self-esteem and what God has called us to be in Christ.
August 21, 2016
Had bad vibes from this book when I bought it. Kind of felt like I was torturing myself the whole time reading it. It instilled a lot of fear in me instead of peace, joy, and love. Also, why did he have to slander self-esteem promoters so much? Why not focus on what the bible actually says instead of giving so much focus to something he clearly doesn't agree with?
April 5, 2008
all of jay adams' works are biblically, psychologically, and scientifically inept, wrong-headed, filled with bad theology and scientific error; in short, they are terrible.
August 19, 2024
ARE CHRISTIANS COMMANDED TO "LOVE OURSELVES"?
Dr. Adams has written other books such as Competent to Counsel, The Christian Counselor's Manual, etc. He wrote in the Preface to this 1986 book, "During the last 15 years we have seen the rise of a powerful and influential movement within the church. You can easily identify it by observing the use of one or more of the several closely related labels with which it is intimately associated: self-image, self-esteem, self-worth, self-love. The one common denominator... is the emphasis on self... the one enemy against which they are unitedly fighting is low self-esteem... It will be our task in this book to understand and evaluate this movement in order to determine whether it is biblical or not and to determine how Christians should relate to it..."
He states, "I have asserted that the self-worth, self-esteem movement cannot be ignored. It is of importance. If it is correct, we must all change our ways---in the home, in the church, and in the school. The leaders of the movement recognize this fact and loudly call for such change. Should we heed their call?" (Pg. 17) He admits, "Certainly, everything that a psychologist has to say is not necessarily incorrect... But ... modern psychologists... have offered so many panaceas for the world's problems (Freudianism, I'm OK, You're OK thinking, and the like) which in the long run have failed to do much good and may have added to the hurts of our world that we can hardly be blamed for being wary of this latest offering with its global claims." (Pg. 28)
He summarizes Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs,' then critiques it: "This means... that man cannot be held responsible for obedience to the biblical commands to love God and his neighbor if he has been deprived of lower-level satisfactions that are requisite for obedience. But nowhere in the entire Bible is any such idea suggested, let alone set forth as a principle for life. We simply do not find any statements ... even hinting that Christians must have other people meet their basic needs in order to make it possible for them to obey God's commandments. Especially do we fail to find anything about a supposed 'need to love one's self' as a prerequisite for loving others. Nothing in the Scriptures even approximates this." (Pg. 43)
He rejects the interpretation of Matt 22:39 ["you shall love your neighbor as yourself"] as being a "command to love yourself": "there is no command here or elsewhere in Scripture to love yourself. Christ made it perfectly clear that he was talking about two, and only two, commandments. In verses 39 and 40 he speaks of the 'second' commandment and 'these TWO commandments.' There is no third commandment. All of Scripture can be hung on two pegs: Love God, love neighbor. Yet the self-esteem people make three commandments out of Christ's two!" (Pg. 67)
He adds, "There is no need for concern about how to love one's self, for as long as one seeks first to love God and his neighbor in a biblical fashion, all proper self-concern will appear as a by-product. That is why the Bible never commands us to love ourselves." (Pg. 73)
Those who loved Dr. Adams' earlier books will certainly love this one as well.
Dr. Adams has written other books such as Competent to Counsel, The Christian Counselor's Manual, etc. He wrote in the Preface to this 1986 book, "During the last 15 years we have seen the rise of a powerful and influential movement within the church. You can easily identify it by observing the use of one or more of the several closely related labels with which it is intimately associated: self-image, self-esteem, self-worth, self-love. The one common denominator... is the emphasis on self... the one enemy against which they are unitedly fighting is low self-esteem... It will be our task in this book to understand and evaluate this movement in order to determine whether it is biblical or not and to determine how Christians should relate to it..."
He states, "I have asserted that the self-worth, self-esteem movement cannot be ignored. It is of importance. If it is correct, we must all change our ways---in the home, in the church, and in the school. The leaders of the movement recognize this fact and loudly call for such change. Should we heed their call?" (Pg. 17) He admits, "Certainly, everything that a psychologist has to say is not necessarily incorrect... But ... modern psychologists... have offered so many panaceas for the world's problems (Freudianism, I'm OK, You're OK thinking, and the like) which in the long run have failed to do much good and may have added to the hurts of our world that we can hardly be blamed for being wary of this latest offering with its global claims." (Pg. 28)
He summarizes Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs,' then critiques it: "This means... that man cannot be held responsible for obedience to the biblical commands to love God and his neighbor if he has been deprived of lower-level satisfactions that are requisite for obedience. But nowhere in the entire Bible is any such idea suggested, let alone set forth as a principle for life. We simply do not find any statements ... even hinting that Christians must have other people meet their basic needs in order to make it possible for them to obey God's commandments. Especially do we fail to find anything about a supposed 'need to love one's self' as a prerequisite for loving others. Nothing in the Scriptures even approximates this." (Pg. 43)
He rejects the interpretation of Matt 22:39 ["you shall love your neighbor as yourself"] as being a "command to love yourself": "there is no command here or elsewhere in Scripture to love yourself. Christ made it perfectly clear that he was talking about two, and only two, commandments. In verses 39 and 40 he speaks of the 'second' commandment and 'these TWO commandments.' There is no third commandment. All of Scripture can be hung on two pegs: Love God, love neighbor. Yet the self-esteem people make three commandments out of Christ's two!" (Pg. 67)
He adds, "There is no need for concern about how to love one's self, for as long as one seeks first to love God and his neighbor in a biblical fashion, all proper self-concern will appear as a by-product. That is why the Bible never commands us to love ourselves." (Pg. 73)
Those who loved Dr. Adams' earlier books will certainly love this one as well.
January 29, 2018
Quick & easy read on the self-esteem movement that has made inroads into the Church today. Adams, as he often can be, is forceful and blunt in decrying the errors within this movement. I would have liked a bit more treatment of the issue in general, and specifically a bit more time exploring what exactly it means to be made in God's image. Nevertheless, a very helpful little book that ought to be read by anyone involved in Christian counseling.
January 1, 2023
Jay Adams sets out to show how the self-esteem, self-love movement isn’t compatible with scripture and does a good job doing so. There’s areas I disagree with Adams, and nouthetic counseling more broadly, but overall this book accomplishes its job well.
September 28, 2018
Worst book for self-esteem.
If you are looking for some personality enhancement or better self-image, DON't read it
If you are looking for some personality enhancement or better self-image, DON't read it
March 3, 2020
This book is very helpful as a critique, but I was looking for more answers on the biblical view.
April 9, 2023
He writes focused on a critique of self-esteem counseling.
October 10, 2023
An important topic and he made some really good points. Worth the read.
December 28, 2023
Very helpful and insightful.
March 31, 2023
Insightful, balanced and a very necessary antidote
This is quite an old book but it’s message is as relevant today as it was when first written. If anything, the correction to the seemingly well meaning, seductive error inherent in teaching that the “needs” of fallen self above the Word of our loving God is needed more urgently today. This book should be required reading for all, young and old.
This is quite an old book but it’s message is as relevant today as it was when first written. If anything, the correction to the seemingly well meaning, seductive error inherent in teaching that the “needs” of fallen self above the Word of our loving God is needed more urgently today. This book should be required reading for all, young and old.
July 10, 2015
One can hardly speak of sin today without receiving some regurgitation of the priority of loving oneself, of overcoming our God-given sense of guilt of wrongdoing with platitudes of self-worth. In this this little, 100 + page book, Adams identifies and outlines decades of the “New Reformation” in academic circles, a new anthropology unlike the one the Bible presents. He notes and predicts how this thought results in the proclamations we hear from today’s prominent Evangelical pulpits. He also tackles the problem at the heart of the issue—the pride loving oneself necessitates. Along the way, he untwists the Scripture passages oft-contorted by advocates of self and places man in a proper view before God.
Some will not find the book without fault. The staunchness of the book, with its use of either-or statements and definitive language, may be perceived as too harsh or abrasive for the average Evangelical today. Moreover, written in 1986, it could also stand an updated edition with today’s landscape of happy-clappy Christianity in mind. By way of contrast, it certainly could do more in providing teaching on and examples of proper love of others. Even so, Christians in the Western church need to read this book, where self-esteem reforms have taken root.
Recommended reading for growing Christians, 4 out of 5 stars.
Some will not find the book without fault. The staunchness of the book, with its use of either-or statements and definitive language, may be perceived as too harsh or abrasive for the average Evangelical today. Moreover, written in 1986, it could also stand an updated edition with today’s landscape of happy-clappy Christianity in mind. By way of contrast, it certainly could do more in providing teaching on and examples of proper love of others. Even so, Christians in the Western church need to read this book, where self-esteem reforms have taken root.
Recommended reading for growing Christians, 4 out of 5 stars.
March 28, 2016
This is a treatise comparing the God's view of people with the modern secular ideas of self-esteem, self-love, and self-image. Based on the Bible alone, the author shows that we are not to think more highly of ourselves than reality leads us to, and reality is based on the Word of God. Our worth comes from our position "in Christ." Our esteem is for God. Our image as created "in the image of God" never implies that we approach equality to God (a photographic image is not the reality, it is only a small representation of the reality, and so with man in God's image).
He uses scripture to make his points.
The writing is clear and moves along quickly.
He uses scripture to make his points.
The writing is clear and moves along quickly.
July 16, 2015
Jay Adams is the "God's Grouch" of the psychology world. This quick read is a bracing whiskey shot of biblical teaching on a subject where false teaching can easily make covert inroads into our thinking. A commendable book.
Also read Winter of 2011.
Also read Winter of 2011.
August 10, 2012
Lots of good things to say said lots of times.
November 3, 2012
Great book! Adams does a great job biblically dismantling the self esteem literature.
July 7, 2014
A great book to biblically refute the proponents of building self-esteem. A must-have for anyone who is in biblical counseling.
September 29, 2014
This was a wonderful read. Great stuff.
April 18, 2016
Required reading for my first Seminary class. It's actually quite good thus far.
November 22, 2017
In this book, the author uses the Bible to help make the case that God wants you to love yoruself.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews