![\"SONY](\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/DSC03537.jpg\")
Christina snapped this photo from the window of our van as we passed the flock.<\/p><\/div>\n
At a distance the flock of sheep looked white but we soon found out that was far from the truth. From the lower half of each sheep hung large clumps of wool caked with soil and feces. They were not all fuzzy and cuddly like you see in the Bible story books!<\/p>\n
I realized this was a teachable moment for my children and told them, “Can you believe the Bible says that we are all like sheep and God still loves us?”<\/p>\n
A Self Inflated Culture<\/h4>\n
Society teaches us that we need to raise our opinion of self, that we are better than we think, that we are worthy of more. Here’s a recent post on Twitter<\/a><\/span>\u00a0from the Queen of self-esteem, Oprah:<\/p>\n Only make decisions that support your self-image, self-esteem<\/strong>, and self-worth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The cultural message of self\u00a0magnanimity\u00a0has already thrust its way into the pulpits of our churches. Take for example Pastor Joel Osteen whose books are\u00a0consistently at the top of the Christian best-seller list.<\/p>\n You don’t have to do much more than read a list of his recent book titles to see the emphasis on self greatness and personal worthiness.<\/p>\n In his book Your Best Life Now<\/span>\u00a0Joel Osteen puts it this way:<\/p>\n You must learn how to cast down those negative thoughts and begin to see yourself as God sees you-as a winner, an overcomer. He sees you as being “well able.” If you want the circumstances to change for the better in your life, you must first see them changing through your “eyes of faith.” You must see yourself as happy, fulfilled, and successful, living an overcoming life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Bible paints a different picture of mankind. One common illustration of man is that of a lost sheep.<\/p>\n [esv scripture=’Isa 53:6′]<\/p>\n Comparing us to sheep is not flattering. Sheep are dirty animals, they are of low\u00a0intelligence, they are weak and defenseless and if left on their own would not survive for long.<\/p>\n The overwhelming message of the Bible is that man needs to lower his opinion of self and raise his opinion of God. That’s what the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said:<\/p>\n [esv scripture=’Isa 40:15′]<\/p>\n Thankfully we have a loving Shepherd who picks us up an carries us in his arms Isa 40:11.<\/p>\n He loves us not because we are so great but because he is so great, not because we are worthy but because he is worthy, not because we have convinced ourselves that we are overcomers but because he has already overcome everything for us!<\/p>\n Last week our family visited the church in the village of Buyalick. There are no paved roads leading to Buyalick so when it’s dry enough the best way to get there is by traveling across the fields on makeshift dirt roads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[121,287],"class_list":["post-2526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-joel-osteen","tag-self-esteem"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/DSC03537.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-EK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5219,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/why-some-people-cant-stand-the-bibles-idea-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":2526,"position":0},"title":"Why Some People Can’t Stand The Bible’s Idea of God","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever wondered why some people are so set against the idea of God? Or at least they're set against the Bible's idea of God. Recently I came across this quote from G.K. Chesterton, he nails it! Chesterton wrote this about\u00a0a play by Bernard Shaw that was banned because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New"","block_context":{"text":"New","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/new\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/if-you-speak-of-God-as-a-fact-as-a-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/if-you-speak-of-God-as-a-fact-as-a-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/if-you-speak-of-God-as-a-fact-as-a-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28605,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/discovery-baptist-church-lessons-in-faithfulness\/","url_meta":{"origin":2526,"position":1},"title":"Discovery Baptist Church -Lessons in Faithfulness","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 12, 2026","format":"video","excerpt":"In a world that often measures success by numbers, influence, and visibility, it\u2019s easy to assume that a thriving ministry must be large, famous, or rapidly growing. But Scripture presents a very different measure of success. According to the Bible, the true mark of a servant of God is faithfulness.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Gospel Today"","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/12618462064_912fdb9bf0_k.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/12618462064_912fdb9bf0_k.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/12618462064_912fdb9bf0_k.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/12618462064_912fdb9bf0_k.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/12618462064_912fdb9bf0_k.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/12618462064_912fdb9bf0_k.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7690,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/is-self-esteem-biblical\/","url_meta":{"origin":2526,"position":2},"title":"Is Self-Esteem Biblical?","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 12, 2017","format":"video","excerpt":"Recently someone asked me about whether \"self-esteem\" is a Biblical concept so here's my answer. I believe you can find a positive concept of self-esteem or self-worth in the Bible, however, in general Western culture has distorted the idea of self-worth and turned it into something very dangerous. Self-worth as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":345,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/hold-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":2526,"position":3},"title":"Hold On!","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"July 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This Tuesday the \"Hold On\" team arrived in Odessa. Half the team is will is doing free dental work in our village clinics and the other half is doing children's ministry.On Thursday and Friday they ministered in the village of Makarovo. Over the two days they saw about 90 patients.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13455,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/bring-discipleship-back-acts-217-38\/","url_meta":{"origin":2526,"position":4},"title":"Bring Discipleship Back | Acts 2:17-38","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"June 26, 2021","format":"audio","excerpt":"What is missing in churches today? Where is the unseen hole? Simply put, we are missing true gospel centered discipleship. 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When I tell them that we celebrate on January 7th the usual response I get is, \"Oh,\u00a0so two weeks later?!\" Then I say, \"No, we celebrate 50 weeks earlier than the West!\" That's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC02165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC02165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC02165.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2526"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2663,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526\/revisions\/2663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Self Infatuated Church<\/h4>\n
\n
A Biblical Picture of Self<\/h4>\n
Question: How does our understanding of who God is affect our concept of self?<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"