BELIEVE IN THE GOD

WHO BELIEVES IN YOU

Book: Robert H. Schuller

Summary: Satyendra N. Dwivedi

What is humanity’s deepest need?

• The “will to pleasure” – (Freud)
• The “will to power” – (Adler)
• The “will to meaning” – (Frankl)
• The “will to self-esteem” – (Schuller)

“When I am ready to launch a project and I think I have all the answers, I can be
sure of this: Some of my answers are wrong.”
- Louis Kahn

Chapter 1: BELIEVE IN THE GOD WHO BELIEVES IN YOU

(“Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me”)

“My proposal is the statement that the universe is a closed system. We don’t
need to suppose there’s something outside the universe which is not subject to
its laws. It is the claim that the laws of science are sufficient to explain the
universe….. Even if we had a TOE (A Theory of Everything), we would still be
left with one final question. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and
makes a universe for them to describe?”
- Stephen W. Hawking

Genuine healthy pride and authentic humility are not opposites – they are one
and the same – only different sides of the same coin of human value.

Human beings are creatures designed to breathe the air of healthy, humble
pride. In our heart of hearts, we sense a spiritual surge of greatness and glory.

“You don’t want to admit it, but the real truth is that human being is this way
because there is God and we are reflections of God, just as surely as moon is
the reflection of the sun.”
- Abraham Kaplan

“You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to be important. God can manifest his
glory through you if you’ll stay humble throughout your success.”
- Dr. Ben Carson

We may not be aware of God’s presence, and if we were aware of it, we may not
acknowledge it. Nevertheless, He is there – believing in you.

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So don’t be surprised if the God who believes in you meets your mind or changes
your mood.

Chapter 2: A SELF-IMAGE TRANSPLANT – GO FOR IT

(“Thou Shalt Not Make Any Grave Image”)

The difference between the possible and the impossible often lies in someone’s
determination and self-confidence.

In order to achieve success in any field of endeavor, we build on hopes, we build

on dreams, and we build on faith.

Our self-image is the inner program that charts our course, determines our
choices, predetermines our reactions to what happens to us, even shapes our
belief system, or generates our doubts.

The image we perceive of our parents, our role models, will no doubt affect the
way we view God and profoundly, permanently shape our self-images, for good –
or ill.

Determination + Discipline + Hard work = The way to Success.

Our faces are sculptured, shaped – and silently but surely engraved by the
thoughts we think and the feelings we harbor.

You will be proud of the kind of person you are, but humble in the knowledge that
God’s spirit living and burning within you is the source of your goodness.

Chapter 3: DIGNITY AFFIRMED! PROTECTED! REDEEMED!

(“Thou Shalt Not Take The Name of The Lord Thy God in Vain”)

What you and I and every person need to put and preserve positive pride in our
lives are personal relationships that:
• AFFIRM our Dignity,
• PROTECT our Dignity,
• RESTORE our Dignity, and
• SUSTAIN our Dignity.

The truth is that relationships that regularly record fresh mental impressions of
your values as a person are the only reservoir of energy to sustain your self-
respect.

Surely no award or recognition can compensate for the safe, satisfying and
sustaining source of strength that positive relationships supply to a human
being’s thirsty soul.
Effective relationships start with a respected and respectful naming of the name.

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“Find a need and fill it. Find a hurt and heal it. Find a problem and solve it.”

In positive relationships, gifts are measured and valued in proportion to their

relationship enrichment value.

Positive words are symbols to stimulate your self esteem. Certainly, the
incredible power of language is a divine gift designed to deliver dignity. Rightly
used, healthy language communicates respect, and builds satisfying
relationships that strengthen mutual self-esteem.

Whoever you are – mother, father, student, teacher, employer – you have access
to power of positive words today:
• Think of all the positive affirmations you can give yourself today.
• Think of all the positive affirmations you can give your spouse today.
• Think of all the positive affirmations you can give your coworkers today.
• Think of all the positive affirmations you can give your children today.

Embrace the gift of language, for words are meant to be tools to create – positive
relationships that meet everyone’s honest need for respect.

The creative use of words sustains the positive relationships between ourselves
and other persons. As a result, God becomes available as well as loveable.

Chapter 4: RETREAT, REGROUP – AND REGAIN YOUR PEACE OF MIND

(“Remember The Sabbath Day To Keep It Holy”)

Relationships are fragile. Even positive relationships are easily subject to

fracture. Handle them with care. Keep in tender touch.

Relationships are perishable. Without steady and strong nourishment, they can
wither and die.

There are so many distractions to the person with eyes and ears, plus a variety
of body organs, each with their separate demands. The competition for my time,
attention and devotion is fierce. The stress generated in me is enough to put
static into the communication lines with the External Silent One.

A bird was designed to fly; a fish to swim; and persons to enjoy God in a garden.
Gardens soothe the tranquility. And tranquility makes spiritual communication
possible.

Self-esteem is never, ever a permanent condition. Peace of mind is not an

acquired possession! Life is in a constant state of change. New deals are dealt.
Blows are dealt. Stress is a natural result of change. Every transmission brings

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tension with it. The bigger the change, the tighter the tension. The broader the
transition, the deeper the stress.

It’s no wonder that we need to take the time to retreat, readjust our mental
attitudes, and restore our self-esteem.

The truth is you desperately, urgently need one day in seven to rest the heart,
the soul, the mind, and the body. So choose, then, to use one day as the day of
rest and renewal.

This successful, busy man sets one day aside to revitalize their faith and their
family. In other words, preserve, empower, and enrich the most important
relationship in your life.

Chapter 5: TAP INTO THE POWER OF YOUR ROOTS

(“Honor Thy Father and Mother”)

My advice to you is forget the “If Onlys”. Put them behind you. For that is where
they are. They are in your past unless you allow yourself to bring them from the
past into the present and into your future.

Replace useless self-pity with an inspiring dream of what you can do to become
the kind of parent that your child will be proud of.

“Self-esteem and happiness are not one and the same. Keeping a child happy is
as simple as giving the child everything he or she wants. … In the process,
however, I will have no choice but to completely destroy the child’s self-esteem.
Self-esteem, you see, is composed of equal parts initiative, resourcefulness,
imagination, autonomy, and determination. Self-esteem is an attitude of “I can do
it myself.”…. Such an attitude develops not as a result of parents doing things for
you, busying them in the pursuit of your happiness, but as a result of parents
who expect you to do for yourself, take responsibility for yourself, and pursue
your own happiness.”
- John Rosemond

Turn your scars into stars by ‘possibility thinking:

• I cannot change what happened to me; but I can control to a great degree
how I will react to what happens to me.
• I shall become a compassionate sympathetic, caring, sensitive person to
help others who are hurting as I have been.

It is no disgrace to disagree and depart from your family’s traditions if you can
bring a brighter faith and a healthier love and a more honorable religious tradition
into the bloodstream of your family. We honor the ongoing family name when we
make corrections that upgrade it.

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“I would like people to bring prayer back again into their families; because love
begins at home. And it begins by praying together. The family that prays together
always stays together and they stay together united in love for one another, and
they never allow anything to break that unity and peace.”
- Mother Teresa

There is a divine destiny to your life. Discover it. Be proud that God has honored
you with life and a future filled with possibilities.

Your self-esteem will be profoundly, perhaps even pervasively, shaped by your

self-image. And your self-image will be shaped for better or for worse by your
family history. You cannot ignore your roots. To achieve emotional well-being,
deal with history, don’t ignore it.

Build your family relationships and make them strong. They will rescue your
wounded spirit again and again. No other relationships, save your relationship
with God will pay such rich dividends to your spirit.

“Life is what you make of it. You have a commitment and you can’t give up. You
are somebody. You must love yourself! You can make it. Life does not serve you
beautiful pieces of cake all the time. But that’s life. So know who you are.”

Chapter 6: LIVE! LOVE! AND LIFT – YOURSELF – AND OTHERS

(“Thou Shalt Not Kill”)

Respect Life! Reverence Life! Restore Life! Revise Life! Release Life!

Value your self and your life highly. This isn’t as self-centered as it may seem.
For when you value yourself, you will, in turn, value others. We project our own
values onto other persons.

Few persons have contributed more to an understanding of the roots and fruits of
anger than psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Jampolsky. He saw – and sees – anger as an
expression of fear.

It takes more inner strength to forgive than it does to inflict revenge. And
remember, God has declared that justice is His right to exercise. Forgiveness, on
the other hand, need not imply compromise with wrongdoing. Only the strong,
self-assured, self-confident will have the inner power and patience to become
“peacemakers”. Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the proponents of non-
violence understood that.

Every person’s inalienable right to be free is justified by his humanity, a high and
holy privilege to enjoy the dignity that is their divine birthright.

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Stress, the big killer, moves in and takes over when the preventative shield of
life-giving enthusiasm has never been injected in the emotional system.

“All people need smiles! Joy is the best medicine for them. When you come to
them in their sorrow and suffering and their pain and you really make them
happy, love brings new life in their life.”
- Mother Teresa

Keep thinking positively and you’ll develop a personality that can restore life.

If we want to discover real dignity we must learn to be meek and humble of heart.

Chapter 7: LOVE OR LONELINESS – IT’S YOUR CHOICE

(“Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”)

The ‘Ten Commandments’ have been violated ever since they were written,
however, they are indestructible. They are broken often, but they are not
destroyed.

We need wisdom to make the right decisions when we are faced with the choices
that carry lasting consequences. Some choices are so important that wrong
selections leave scars that can’t be covered.

This command is meant to extend and expand our love life, to eliminate
loneliness, not pleasure, from our lives.

The sub-conscious is always ahead of the conscious. If there is any assumption,

and suspicion, or any remote possibility that a secret may someday be revealed
unwillingly, then the subconscious mind, like a commanding general hidden from
site far behind the frontline, will do its defensive job to protect its pride.

Real identity is discovered when you are loved by someone you trust enough to
fully disclose yourself – body, mind, and soul. The lover tells you more about
yourself, and the better you know yourself, the better you can love yourself.

Intimacy is God created prescription to full blown joy! The pleasure comes to full
flower when you find a friend with whom you can laugh and cry; talk honestly and
openly; be happy; sit for hours and say nothing or scream in ecstasy or
frustration.

The deepest need is the need to be needed. This need – in your life and mine
– is safely, perfectly satisfied in safe intimacy.

Love that flows free, pure and precious is life-giving. Love is wellspring of
enthusiasm! Optimism! Creativity! The joyous spring of love must never, ever be
cluttered with litter or polluted with foreign elements.

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Two strong influences for preserving marriages, more reliable than premarital
living together, are a shared belief in marriage or in the beliefs or philosophy or
religion that the couple share.

Psychologically, when I make a commitment “for better or worse”, I grow. I have

grown through my marriage.

Chapter 8: THE PRIDE OF EARNERSHIP AND OWNERSHIP –

EXPERIENCE AND ENJOY IT
(“Thou Shalt Not Steal”)

“Who steals my purse steals trash, twas something, tis nothing. But he that
filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and
makes me poor indeed.”
- Shakespeare

Develop an economic philosophy backed by laws that will guarantee enough

income to every person so that incentive to crime will be eliminated? But what if
this solution would also eventually and unavoidably removes incentives to
creativity, productivity, and ultimately pride of ‘Achievement’?

A positive self-confidence will inspire persons to believe in themselves until they

affirm:
• I am free to set my private goals. I’m proud of my freedom to dream. No
person is ever poor if he is free to dream great dreams.
• I need not be afraid of failure. I’d be proud if I’d tried and failed than I’d be
if I never made a serious effort and accomplished little or nothing.
• I’m going to make the most of the opportunities I’m free to pursue.

Choose to be positive thinker, and you’ll be free at last!

“Every person is free to choose to have a negative mental attitude (NMA) or a

positive mental attitude (PMA). A positive mental attitude will produce positive
results and a negative mental attitude will produce negative results.”
- W. Clement Stone

Respect for opportunities is an early first step to earning self-respect. Self-

respect starts when you start respecting your own ideas.

Is your dream unreachable? Unattainable? Impossible? That’s good. It’s one

indication that the idea may be a gift from God Himself. For He always calls us to
be more than we are. His plan is always bigger than our perceived abilities.

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This is His strategy for stretching our thinking until we leave the calm, snug,
safety of our comfort zone and break loose, move out, step ahead, and become
more than we have ever been before.

Faith, focus, and follow-through are wise words to guide the opportunity
thinker…. Don’t let any and every new opportunity distract you from focusing on
what you do best. Now if you decide to go for it, there is a final inspection: Ask
yourself if you are prepared to follow through and pay the price.

Most failing opportunity thinkers fail not because they lacked opportunity or talent
or training or resources but because they didn’t give their opportunity their whole
hearted effort.

Enthusiasm is a spiritual power designed by the Creator God to fuel human

beings to be creative creators of creative offspring. Enthusiasm is a mysterious,
marvelous, miracle-working, mountains-moving power.

Disappointments are realities. Discouragements are reactions. I may not be able

to control my life and manage to avoid all disappointments, but I can choose
never to let the disappointments discourage me.

Tough times are encountered by almost anyone who is seriously pursuing any
goal. When problems or pressures mount, you simply retreat, regroup,
reorganize, and reprioritize your resources, but you don’t get discouraged and
quit. Cycles come and go, but your eye never loses sight of your ultimate goal.

• Earn All You Can!

• Serve ALL You Can!
• Give All You Can!

“A gentleman puts more into life than he takes out of it.”

- George Bernard Shaw

God loves you! He has a plan for your life! He has given you talents.
Develop them. He has given you some gift. Discover it! He is giving
opportunities. Seize them. God’s waiting to provide you with all you need!
This is your inheritance. No man can take that from you!

Chapter 9: HOW TO GET OTHERS TO HOLD YOU IN HIGH ESTEEM

(“Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness”)

The key to winning friends, influencing people, and earning the precious and
powerful wealth of respect: Be Positive! Be Optimistic! Be Careful! Instead of
putting people down, pray them up.

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The world of religion can be so beautiful when preachers, evangelists, authors,
and theologians look for areas of agreement with other faiths.

Surely where understandable, sincere and irreconcilable differences remain, we

must at least be respectful, dignified and courteous in our comments and critique.

There are intellectual elite who consider themselves the mental lords of society.
Academic arrogance can look down with disrespect upon the men and women
whose educational backgrounds fall far short of the lofty achievements of those
in the academic aristocracy.

“Anything that offers hope has the potential to heal, including thoughts,
suggestions, symbols, and placebos.”
- Dr. Bernie Siegel (‘Love, Medicine, and Miracles’)

It’s impossible for jealousy to be honest. Jealousy is a faulted, flawed attempt to

rescue self-respect from the positive challenge that comes from competitive
centers or circles. Jealousy is a hollow way to try to win the admiration and
esteem of my professional colleagues. Only concrete, creative, constructive
achievement can do it.

Let’s start an inspiring revolution of the human spirit on the planet earth! Let us
make a decision to allow ourselves to become channels of God’s encouragement
to our fellow human beings. We will go around boosting the spirits and elevating
the self-image of people who have been bruised by failures, frustrations, and
fracturing experiences of life.

Decide to be a kind, honest, and generous person. Yes, you may lose the
support of some negative persons. Let them go. Pay the price. After all, they
probably aren’t the people that you respect the most.

“Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me strong.”

We must remember that there is one gift God never removes from us: ‘our
freedom to choose our reaction to what happens to us’.

Just Choose to become somebody’s best friend. A best friend is:

• Someone who believes in me before I’ve had a chance to prove that I
deserve his trust.
• One who still loves me after seeing me at my worst.
• Someone who believes the best about me when he may have reason not
to.
• Somebody who applauds me when no one else bothers to compliment
me.
• Somebody who encourages me to dream the impossible dream.
• Somebody who keeps telling me, “You can do it! You’re great!”

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 • Someone who is quick to forgive me after I have stumbled, erred, missed
the mark, and sinned.
• Someone who is honest enough to tell me the truth when other people
would yield to false flattery.
• Someone I can trust with my deepest secrets.

Yes – I’ve got such a ‘best friend’; His name is God.

Chapter 10: SELF-RESPECT: YOUR POWER AND YOUR GLORY

(“Thou Shalt Not Covet”)

Build self-respect; cultivate self-esteem; court a proper positive pride in being a

human being worthy of the label “CHILD OF GOD”.

So go out and seek the glory and honor that only God can bestow: The God of
Beauty. The God of Hope. The God of Peace. The God of Love. The God of
Creativity. The God of Possibilities. The God who believes in you.

In summary, people with positive self-esteem demonstrate the qualities of

personal character that any community would point to with pride in their
members.

“Self-esteem is appreciating my own worth and importance and having the

character to be accountable for myself and to act responsibly towards
others”.

“To appreciate my own worth and importance means to be aware of and to

recognize the significance of my inherent worth, of my value to myself and to
others, of my place in the world. Every person has unique significance, simply
because the precious and mysterious gift of life as a human being has been
given. This is an inherent value which no adversary or adversity can take away.
This sense of innate worth is re-enforced when each individual’s unique abilities
are recognized, developed and used to enrich our society.

Appreciating my own worth and importance is futile if it fails to foster responsible

character and integrity in my actions. Character is evidenced in actions. Honesty,
compassion, discipline, industriousness, reverence, perseverance, devotion,
forgiveness, kindness, courage, gratitude, and grace are among the qualities
which integrity of character produces. Character is nurtured in the family which
loves and accepts the child, thus affirming his or her own worth and importance.
Every child needs to be treated with respect, consistently, and from the earliest
moment of life.

Being accountable means accepting responsibility for my own actions, for the
consequences of my own behavior.

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The primary way in which we show respect to others is to step out of the state of
anxious self-concern - long enough to give others our attention – to listen, to
understand, to care.”
[From Report of California Task Force to Promote Self-esteem and Personal and
Social Responsibility]

“The greatest problem facing modern man is the dampening of the human spirit
that causes many people, especially in the countries of Western civilization, to
lose their pride in being human and doubt that we will be able to cope with our
problems and those of the future.”
- Rene Dubos [‘Celebrations of Life’]

A positive religion that causes you to respect yourself will turn you into a person
who respects others.

When you discover the beauty in yourself you will begin to discover the beauty in
others. And conversely, when you are able to discover the beauty in others, you
will begin to discover the beauty in yourself.

There is a psychological defense mechanism that is called ‘projection’, which

means we give out what we have within us. If we are good, we think other people
are good. If we are generous, we think other people to be generous. If we love
ourselves with a non-judgmental love, we can love others with a non-judgmental
love.

A CLOSING WORD

Choose to live a life you can be proud of. Let your personality radiate with the
self-esteem that is the presence of God within you, and your pride will become
the praise of thanksgiving offered to God.

People who never change their minds are either perfect or stubborn. I’m not
perfect, and I don’t want to be stubborn. So I can reverse myself and not be
ashamed or embarrassed to do so!

I’ve learned how, when, and what to yield. Credit and honor included. After all,
God can do tremendous things through the person who doesn’t insist on getting
all of the credit.

Summary – Satyendra Dwivedi

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