Are you familiar with self-affirmation?
Merriam-Webster defines SELF-AFFIRMATION as “the act of affirming one’s own worthiness and value as an individual.”
An article[1] online reports real-life examples of celebrity self-affirmations:
Lizzo says, “I started talking to my belly this year.” Every day she tells her belly the following: “You deserve all the space in the world to breathe, expand, and contract, and give me life. I love you.”
Ashley Graham begins each day by telling herself: “I am bold, I am beautiful, and I am brilliant.” Jennifer Lopez says to herself: “I am beautiful and timeless at every age. I am enough.” Michelle Obama says her daily mantra is “Am I good enough? Yes, I am.” Maya Angelou’s daily affirmation is “Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”
In 1991, Al Franken created a character for Saturday Night Live called Stuart Smalley. Smalley was the fictional host of a mock self-help show entitled “Daily Affirmations With Stuart Smalley.” Each week as the skit would begin, Smalley would address his insecurities by looking in the mirror and reciting his affirmation:
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”
A writer sums up the humor: Smalley “is lying, of course, which is why it’s so funny. Stuart Smalley is not liked, is not successful, and is certainly not smart. By hosting a variety of successful, wealthy, likeable, and beautiful guests, Smalley makes the lie only more obvious. He will never be like them no matter how much he affirms himself” (from https://www.equip.org/articles/im-the-head-and-not-the-tail-a-christian-decides-to-skip-the-daily-affirmation/).
The routine became so popular that in 1992, Franken, writing as Smalley, published a book filled with increasingly silly “daily affirmations.” January 1 begins, “I BELIEVE IN ME!” Below that title is an entry that reads, “Okay. That’s a fitting way to start. Say it to yourself. Several times. “I believe in me!” “I believe in me!”
Wanna’ see the rest of Franken’s book? You won’t find it in the self-help section of the bookstore. This book is in the humor section. The whole thing is a joke, a parody mocking self-affirmations.
Something inside us is naturally skeptical about the idea of standing in front of a mirror and reciting such statements. First, there is the question of truth: do we really believe these statements? Second, is the question of value: even if true, do these statements (such as giving your belly room to ‘breathe’) hold any value?[2]
Consider Michelle Obama’s daily mantra. Saying ‘I am good enough’ is one of the most common self-affirmations. That seems harmless.
But is it true? If I begin each day telling myself I am good enough, will that make me good? And good in what way? Am I ethically good? Am I morally good? Am I righteous? Or does it mean I am good enough in quality, that I am a good enough lawyer to win a case for my client? Or I am a smart enough person to run a business or talented enough to spend time with the rich and famous? Good in what way? And good according to whom? Can I rely on these statements? Are they true?
And if true, does the statement hold any real value? If I am good according to the standard of Michelle Obama, does that give me value? What if I am good by my own standard? Is that enough? If I meet my own set of goals, does that give my life value or worth? If I embrace “body positivity” does that belief make it true? Does believing you are beautiful make you beautiful? If I believe I am a heavyweight contender will that belief prepare me to win a boxing match? If I tell myself I am a mathematical genius, will those statements improve my math scores? I question both the truth and the value of these statements.
But don’t get me wrong; the ritual of self-talk is not without value. Memorizing a statement and repeating it daily can be of great value.
The problem is not the practice of filling your mind with positive messages. The problem with self-affirmation is the messages themselves. Why spend five minutes every day repeating useless, greeting-card pablum? These meaningless platitudes about beauty or self-worth or being “good enough” are of questionable truth and very little value.
HOWEVER, if you were to spend five minutes a day filling your mind with GOD’S WORDS ABOUT YOU, then you would see true results! Replace SELF-affirmations with GOD’s affirmations. Affirm yourself with GOD’s WORDS!
But wait! What’s the difference? Are we simply replacing one bit of warm, feel-good poetry with another? Absolutely not! The difference is that God’s words are objectively true. They are actually, demonstrably, certifiably true.
If you are a believer, you already know the power of God’s word. These are not just meaningless phrases, hackneyed clichés that never said much in the first place.
To address the two questions above, words from the Bible are absolutely true, and they are of infinite value.
And THAT makes all the difference. Self-Affirmations based on my own flawed thinking have almost no value and deserve to be parodied. But thinking God’s THOUGHTS has inestimable value.
Rather than empty words like Franken’s “I am good enough, I am smart enough,” consider reciting to yourself every day God’s words about you. The Bible is filled with TRUE words of hope and encouragement, words whose VALUE is infinite:
God loves you, John 3:16.
God forgives you, 1 John 1:9.
God has a plan for you, Jeremiah 29:11.
God will meet all your needs, Philippians 4:19.
God will help you defeat sin, 1 Corinthians 10:13 and Romans 6:14.
God will be with you always, Matthew 28:20.
And with God’s help, you can do all things, Philippians 4:13.
One Bible passage that addresses the self-esteem-related topics of the celebrities above is Psalm 139.
Now THIS is what affirmation ought to look like! Look in the mirror and say these things to yourself every morning:
“God, you made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous! … You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book … Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” Psalm 139:13-16,23-24 (Living Bible).
Again, the practice of daily affirmation can have value. But make it a daily affirmation from God. Memorize powerful lines from God’s word and spend a few minutes quoting those words to yourself daily. That is true affirmation—the kind of affirmation that has the power to change your life forever.
AΩ
[1] https://hudabeauty.com/us/en_US/blog-powerful-affirmations-celebs-83884.html The article references several other celebrities, but gives no indication the words quoted were statements the celebrities actually spoke to themselves, so I did not include them.
[2] Besides the problems of truth and value, a third problem with today’s self-affirmations is their connection to the quasi-religious doctrine of the so-called law of attraction or “manifestation.” Some who use and promote self-affirmation believe it to be an essential step in ‘manifesting’ the results they hope to see. Manifestation is the false notion that the universe is somehow listening to your words and conforming to your wishes. God hears your words. The Creator of the universe hears your words. But the universe itself—the creation—is inanimate. The universe hears nothing. The universe is not listening. Rather than trying to speak your dreams into existence by talking to a deaf universe, consider praying to the God who made the universe. At least he is actually listening. I have written about “manifestation” or the law of attraction here. https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2023/05/04/may-the-force-be-with-you/
Household Words: 