Captive: Setting Free the Unknown Me

By Phyllis Mitchell

As a newly planted seed from the moment we exit the womb, our self-esteem is being cultivated and nourished. Entrusted into the hands of the individuals who will care for, encourage, sustain, and develop it until the day we can make our own choices and decisions. Caretakers, who may be wounded and hurt individuals, pass on to another generation the nourishment they received and what they know to be truth.

How we feel about ourselves affects our very essence. Low self-esteem has been linked to addictions, promiscuity, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, and violence. It assassinates an individuals self-worth, dreams, ideas, and potential. Low self-esteem issues can be conquered and every individual can reach a comfortable median where they feel they can achieve or accomplish anything within the confines of their talents and abilities. The most important goal is for someone who suffers with low self-esteem issues to reinforce within themselves that without a doubt he or she is exactly who God says they are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512766455

Phyllis Mitchell

Phyllis Mitchell is passionate about the ministry of reconciliation. It is her desire to reach those who are forgotten, lost, downtrodden, broken, and in need of restoration. Phyllis is an Evangelist, a worship leader, teacher, and youth advisor at New Community Church in Aurora, Illinois. She has written, produced, and performed several plays in her local assembly and community. She is a graduate of Destiny of H.O.P.E. Evangelical Bible Institute where she received both her Master of Divinity and her Doctor of Divinity degrees. She is a missionary who works in conjunction with the St. Thomas Christian Fellowship providing ministry and service to the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas.

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Copyright © 2015 Phyllis Mitchell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Copyright 1970, 1983, 1987 by Thomas Nelson.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-0350-4 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015911418

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/04/2015

CONTENTS

Introduction

The Enemy Unknown

Captive

Making The Past The Past

Free At Last!

Conclusion

Works Cited

About the Author

As a newly planted seed from the moment we exit the womb, our self-esteem is being cultivated and nourished. Entrusted into the hands of the individuals who will care for, encourage, sustain and develop it until the day we can make our own choices and decisions. Caretakers, who may be wounded and hurt individuals, passing on to another generation the nourishment they received and what they know to be truth.

How we feel about ourselves affects our very essence. Low self-esteem has been linked to addictions, promiscuity, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, and violence. It assassinates an individual’s self-worth, dreams, ideas, and potential. Low self-esteem issues can be conquered and every individual at some point can reach a comfortable median where they feel they can achieve or accomplish anything within the confines of their talents and abilities. The most important goal is for someone who suffers with low self-esteem issues to reinforce within themselves that without a doubt he or she is exactly who God says they are.

Introduction

Cross-eyed Anita, Buck-toothed Brenda, Stupid, No Good, Fat, Lazy, Tiny, Crazy Big and the list continues. So often we look at these words and others like them as harmless nicknames and sayings. Being called a derogatory name or birth defect has never made anyone feel good. These derogatory words and others like them are being used daily: words that pierce hearts destroy dreams and re-route the life destinations of many people. What happens to our psyche when we are referred to as-not who we are, but by the condition we have? Derogatory names and words do not add value to our lives. Derogatory words can in some instances diminish the self-worth of an individual making them feel less than the people around them. Unknowingly making us as individuals captive to the derogatory names and the conditions we have rather than allowing us to be free to explore the uniqueness of our own individuality.

What is self-worth? Self-worth is the value we place upon ourselves. This value determines how we think we measure up against others. Who is it we really see when the person in the mirror looks back at us? If we could place a value on ourselves what would it be? Would the value we place be low or high? If our self-value is low because of things that have happened to us in life can the walls that have been built up through years of put downs, criticisms and self-defamations be torn down? How do we overcome feelings of low self-worth or self-value? Can the chains of our past be broken triggering the release of our truest potential?

How we feel about ourselves affects our very essence. It influences and governs our decisions, life choices, business prowess, stature in society and our educational levels. Self esteem is not relegated to our social status, financial capabilities or talents. Self-esteem affects everyone. It does not discriminate. It does not pick and choose how it will regulate within an individual.