Self-Esteem vs. Self-Concept

Virginia Satir was a noted American author and psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy. I highly respect her as a pioneer in her field and I have a feeling that if she were alive today I would enjoy being in her company. However, I ran across this excerpt from her book Self Esteem and could not help but think, "Whoa! Hold on a minute!" Take a look at the following:

My Declaration of Self-Esteem

I AM ME
In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Everything that comes out of me is authentically me. Because I alone chose it - I own everything about me My body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, Whether they be to others or to myself - I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears - I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me - by so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts - I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know - but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me - However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically Me - If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded - I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me - I own me, and therefore I can engineer me - I am me and
I AM OKAY
(Found in Virginia Satir, Self Esteem, Celestial Arts: California, 1975).

Virginia Satir was a great advocate of self-esteem and personal growth and her entire work was done under the umbrella of “Becoming More Fully Human.”

WHAT??!!

Ok, I don't know about you, but most of the time I find that I am already way too human! In psychology, self-esteem reflects a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his own worth. When pondering my own worth, I prefer to use the words "Self-Concept" as opposed to "Self-Esteem." That way, I can choose to see myself the way that God sees me. If you want to know what that is like, just read Psalm 139. My goal is to see myself the way God sees me and to become more like Him. So borrowing from the gist of her excerpt, this is my version of the poem:

I AM ME
In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Because I chose Christ ~ He owns everything about me. My body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions are uniquely mine, whether they be to others or myself. My fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears ~ all of my triumphs and successes are God's because He owns all of me. All of my failures and mistakes are a reflection of my humanness and proof that I am a work in progress. Because I am made in the image of God, I can become intimately acquainted with me ~ and can still love myself. There are aspects of myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know. But as long as I have God's help, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles. However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at any given moment is me in all of my humanness. If some parts of that turns out to be unfitting for a child of God, I will repent and ask for forgiveness. In God, I have what I need to survive, to be close to others, and to be a productive servant of the King. Although I will never be able to make sense of this world, of myself, or the people around me, I can relax in the knowledge that I don't have to make sense of it all. I am God's ~ and,
THROUGH HIM, I AM OKAY!