Self-Esteem & contemporary "Creativity"
Giving credit to self, not to our sovereign God
"I will utter My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness,
Because they have forsaken Me... and worshiped the works of their own hands." Jeremiah 1:16-17
"All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, 'Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?'
"While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!" Daniel 4:28-31
God will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks. For he says: 'By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent." Isaiah 10:12-13
"...you have reproached the Lord, and said, ‘By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains...
[But God says,] Did you not hear long ago how I made it, from ancient times that I formed it?" Isaiah 37:24-26
“And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands." Acts 7:41
"I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly... Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion." Romans 12:3, 16
"You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty....
I established you....
By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you....
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.
You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you." Ezekiel 28:12-13, 16-18
"Thus says the Lord God:
'Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods...
Yet you are a man, and not a god, though you set your heart as the heart of a god...
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
Therefore thus says the Lord God:
'Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
They shall throw you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain." Ezekiel 28:2-8
"Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones;
And under his glory, He will kindle a burning....
It will burn and devour ... and it will consume the glory of his forest...." Isaiah 10:15-19
"But now, O Lord, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand." Isaiah 64:8
"O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?' Does not the potter have power over the clay...?" Romans 9:20-21
"Who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth...
When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther,
And here your proud waves must stop!’...
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
By what way is light diffused,
Or the east wind scattered over the earth?...
"Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you set their dominion over the earth?
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
That an abundance of water may cover you?" Job 38:8-34
"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things,to whom be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:33-36
"...be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. ... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:5-10