8 Ways to Feel Good About Yourself

1. Picture it. Flip to your favorite memories in an old photo album. As you reminisce about fun times in your life and the people you really care about, you'll see how many truly fabulous gifts God's given you.

2. Focus on the positive. Focus on the positive. If you're in the habit of keeping nice notes, cards and letters from others, dig ‘em out. Or you can just listen extra-hard for encouraging words. Sometimes other people are better at identifying your great God-given traits than you are.

3. Make a change. Identify the behaviors and situations that undermine your self-confidence, then try your hardest to change them. Stop hanging out with people who make you feel crummy. Instead of criticizing your reflection in the mirror, give yourself a compliment. Smile more.

4. Come clean. Unresolved issues with other people or with God can weigh you down and trick you into thinking no one would love you if they knew the truth. Confession is tough, but it's a cinch compared to living with guilt. Plus, confession leads to forgiveness—usually from other people and always from God.

5. Challenge yourself. Read a classic novel. Start an exercise plan. Try a new sport, or pick up a musical instrument. Memorize a book of the Bible. In the process of collecting new experiences and finding a sense of accomplishment, you just might discover a talent you never knew you had.

6. Excel where it counts. You'll probably never be the most athletic, attractive, intelligent, popular person you know. But you can make it your goal to be something even better. You could strive to be the most caring, the best listener, the most patient or the kindest. These things won't win you trophies, but they'll lead to the best kind of success: becoming more like Jesus.

7. Lend a hand. Try to focus on the lives of others instead of just your own. Volunteer—whether that means helping a neighbor or caring for abandoned animals—and you'll be amazed at the results. Making a difference in others' lives has a boomerang way of making a huge difference in your own.

8. Remember who loves you. The ultimate reason to feel good about yourself has to do with the ultimate being: God. He's starry-eyed, open-arms, head-over-heels in love with you. Read 1 John and think of it as God's love letter to you. Here's a little sneak preview (1 John 3:1). "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"