How can I love myself?

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I feel so empty and worthless. My husband's harsh words, when he is angry, and his lack of care for my existence, has worn me down to nothing. I am overweight and miserable, and feel that I cannot do anything about it. I feel that I am not even worth the effort it would take to make my shell pretty to others. I cannot stand when people say that I am pretty, infact I do not believe any compliments. They feel shallow, and the mean things my husband has said feel deep and heavy.
How can I ever love myself again? I pray about it, I pray to give me guidance to not upset my husabnd, or pray that my husband's heart is softened, among thousands of other prayers.
 
I experienced the same thing to some degree. It's a very bad situation to be in, since you don't value yourself as God does, and in a way, that is a shortcoming in the sight of God; it's like saying to Him: "you're not right, I'm really not worth that much". But God can pull you out. He did it for me, when I started focusing on His feelings for me, instead of what other people told me. Actually I shut off from people that brought me down and decided to get things right for myself. So I'd say that you start to depend more on God and how He sees you and loves you, rather than on your husband, who has failed in his duty to love and uplift you. A verse that has helped me is one which says that "the heart of every man is deceitful". In light of this verse I understood that people can be mean, and weak and have shortcomings and thus hurt me, even willingly. So it was easier to accept their mistakes and move on. Start thinking more of yourself, of who you really are, and how God loves you. You can't let others ruin that for you. God bless!
 
Answers,

You are focusing too much on the outer shell of who you are...
God tells us to work on our inner beauty.
A gentle and quiet spirit full of inner beauty is how to win your husbands attention.
I know you can find things to love about yourself...
Can you sing, cook or be encouraging.
Always try to stay calm, even when he has hurts you.
Ask him with a gentle voice when you need help or want an answer for something.
A soft loving whisper will get you a lot more postive attention.

I will be praying for you and your marriage,
In His Love, Shekaniah

1 Peter 3:1 - 4
Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
 
Well, you will never learn to love yourself with a verbally and emotionally abusive husband. Abusers rarely change. The reason being most abusers see the person they abuse as 'making them' act the way they do, so they never take responsibility for their actions.
Chances are you are a very good person, and thats why you ended up in this situation. Abusers often pray on nice, people, because they also tend to be passive and naive about how to deal with people. Bottom line you are in an abusive relationship and you need to leave. Get as far away from this guy as you can, leave him in the dust and never look back. He is not worth your time. You are better than that and deserve more than how he's treating you.
 
Bottom line you are in an abusive relationship and you need to leave. Get as far away from this guy as you can, leave him in the dust and never look back. He is not worth your time. You are better than that and deserve more than how he's treating you.

Woah now...

Prayer is your best medicine. Yes, you could take matters into your own hands, but I believe prayer is a more effective - even if deemed passive - measure to default to. If you abandon the sanctity of your marriage because of insecurity instilled largely by your husband, I don't think you'll be held blameless before Him.
 
I wish I could say somethng more but all I can say is keep praying....I'm completely sure that God loves you, the people around us can fail to love us and we can fail to love the people around us, but God's love never fails. God saw you worthy enough to send his Son to die for you, so believe me, you are loved :).
I just prayed for you and the restoration of your marriage. Please don't let your circumstances bring you down, hold on to what is good = God.
God bless you.
 
its not what your husband thinks, it what God thinks you are he says so himself! as for your husband, hes suppose to love his wife like christ loves his church ephesians 5:25. even though you say compliments are shallow i think you are the most beautiful person inside as well as out. so what if your overweight not everyone is a size 2. you dont have to be a certain size etc to be beautiful. I dont wish anything bad at all upon people but your husband should make sure the words that come out of his mouth are sweet, he may have to eat them one day...
 
I have never used any social sites before now, and I am blow away at everyone's responses!
Thank you very much for ALL the kind words and guidance. I love my husband obviously more than I love myself, but I do not like being treated bad. Through all his verbal harshness and his cold treatment, I do not raise my voice, infact I more-a-less gravel beneath him. He believes in God and after the situations die down he seems to always feel bad, I think because of God.

However, I always continue to feel bad. I cannot seem to drop or forget or feel numb to all the very mean things he said. I do not throw it in his face or anything, I just feel distant from him emotionally and it affects me phyically as well.

For instance two days ago, I asked him if there was anything he was not telling me, because while I studying on the internet had a youtube video to watch, and noticed at the top was my hubands name, so I clicked on his name and it gave the history. I glanced down and immediately noticed that there were videos, that I would not have thought he would look at. I felt devastated and knew if I brought it up he would explode, but I thought if I didn't than I would be much worse.

Stupid me, I asked. right away he denied it, but then got really mad and started yelling and cursing at me, which he knows I am sensitive too, He was saying things like, "who am I to come at him like that, I have no business asking him" He also said when we got home, because we were in the car, "he was going to call a divorce attorney and divorce me" I was so shocked, and did not understand why he was that mad. I was crying when we arrived home, and asked him to explain why he would say that he was going to divorce me over me asking about something he did not do; he did not know why.

I continued to try to make things better the way I always do, and he then somehow says that he has been thinking about cheating on me because we have not had sex in two weeks (sorry about being so personal) well the reason, it was that time of the month for me (first week), second week he was sick. To make it worse he continued to critize me in bed, which is so hurtful, because he knows it is because we have young kids nearby.

So needless to say I left that conversation feeling like I cannot talk to him about any concerns with him, I have no value to him because I am replaceable, I am not enough, my life is not stable among other feelings. I believe he did not watch those videos, and have told him that I was just trying to have some assurance from him. He thinks because I look at things that are infront of me that I do not trust him. The only thing I do not trust is him when he is mad and that is what I tell him. I will look, not because I want to find something, but because I want to not find anything. I want to know that my deepest worse thought is untrue. I makes me proud of him and makes me love him more and deeper. It heals some of my pain. Does that makes sense?

Anyways, thank you for listening! Thank you for responding! I appreciate it!!
 
He's obviously very ashamed to have been caught looking at those videos and lashed out. It's good that he knows you know about them and the fact that you were strong enough to say something to him about them is good.

People are who they are. We can't change them, but God can. We have to put our loved ones into His hands and allow God to do magnificent things.

The thing we do have control over is how we react to things and how we allow them to affect us. We can CHOOSE to use them to grow and bring about change in ourselves that will: 1. Protect us from the barbs others shoot our way; and 2. control the power they have over us.

You can't control the way your husband speaks to you. You can control whether or not you are going to let it beat you down. You can control whether or not you will allow it to affect your self-worth. Please seek God in THIS area. We are respected more by others when we respect ourselves. You do NOT have to accept this behavior.

I know from another thread that you have children. They are watching this situation too and will be affected by this. Please pray, seek God and allow Him to guide you into being the godly woman/mom you want to be, and let God handle your husband. Your husband may be intimidating to you, but he sure isn't to God. Think about that when he is being ugly to you.

God bless you and your family.
 
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I have never used any social sites before now, and I am blow away at everyone's responses!
Thank you very much for ALL the kind words and guidance. I love my husband obviously more than I love myself, but I do not like being treated bad. Through all his verbal harshness and his cold treatment, I do not raise my voice, infact I more-a-less gravel beneath him. He believes in God and after the situations die down he seems to always feel bad, I think because of God.

However, I always continue to feel bad. I cannot seem to drop or forget or feel numb to all the very mean things he said. I do not throw it in his face or anything, I just feel distant from him emotionally and it affects me phyically as well.

For instance two days ago, I asked him if there was anything he was not telling me, because while I studying on the internet had a youtube video to watch, and noticed at the top was my hubands name, so I clicked on his name and it gave the history. I glanced down and immediately noticed that there were videos, that I would not have thought he would look at. I felt devastated and knew if I brought it up he would explode, but I thought if I didn't than I would be much worse.

Stupid me, I asked. right away he denied it, but then got really mad and started yelling and cursing at me, which he knows I am sensitive too, He was saying things like, "who am I to come at him like that, I have no business asking him" He also said when we got home, because we were in the car, "he was going to call a divorce attorney and divorce me" I was so shocked, and did not understand why he was that mad. I was crying when we arrived home, and asked him to explain why he would say that he was going to divorce me over me asking about something he did not do; he did not know why.

I continued to try to make things better the way I always do, and he then somehow says that he has been thinking about cheating on me because we have not had sex in two weeks (sorry about being so personal) well the reason, it was that time of the month for me (first week), second week he was sick. To make it worse he continued to critize me in bed, which is so hurtful, because he knows it is because we have young kids nearby.

So needless to say I left that conversation feeling like I cannot talk to him about any concerns with him, I have no value to him because I am replaceable, I am not enough, my life is not stable among other feelings. I believe he did not watch those videos, and have told him that I was just trying to have some assurance from him. He thinks because I look at things that are infront of me that I do not trust him. The only thing I do not trust is him when he is mad and that is what I tell him. I will look, not because I want to find something, but because I want to not find anything. I want to know that my deepest worse thought is untrue. I makes me proud of him and makes me love him more and deeper. It heals some of my pain. Does that makes sense?

Anyways, thank you for listening! Thank you for responding! I appreciate it!!

I will continue to pray for you and your marriage.
You have a lot to think and pray about...
Ask God for wisdom and insight.
Take care and God Bless
 
Woah now...

Prayer is your best medicine. Yes, you could take matters into your own hands, but I believe prayer is a more effective - even if deemed passive - measure to default to. If you abandon the sanctity of your marriage because of insecurity instilled largely by your husband, I don't think you'll be held blameless before Him.

"insecurity instilled by your husband''? No, its abuse. Period.
 
The defenition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and exspecting a different resualt. How long has this been going on? I do beleive in prayer however I also beleive people need to take action to get things done. Dont allow yourself to be a victom. If he starts talking down to you calmly remind him that you do not talk to him that way. This may help but honestly, you cant change him. You cant change any body. I know a good book you can read called CO_DEPENDENTS IN RECOVERY . It has helped me out a lot dealing with disfuncktionel relationships. It will open up a whole new world for you on how to deal with relationship problems. So go to the book store NOW!
 
I'm still waiting to see how God enters the conversation and thoughts....

.people seem to use prayer like putting slips of paper in a suggestion box and never listening or reading His Word about the situation.


Ephesians 5:28
So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Psalm 19
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.


God expects husbands to honor their wives and for wives to respect their husband.

Answer be honest with yourself. You found the videos in his internet history.... they don't get there on their own.

Just because he is watching them does not mean he doesn't love you but you both need some counseling perhaps your church has marriage counseling?

You can pray about it but God also wants us to be truthful and honest with each other and ourselves.

Remember when it comes to sex YOU ARE Enough and if your husband doesn't agree the problem is with HIM not you.
 
I have to agree with ugly, this is abuse and abusers don't get better they get worse. only you can decide when you have had enough but remember, you don't need another person to make you feel worthwhile. God made you a whole person and he doesn't mess about, he makes people in their entirety. xx
 
Thanks again for all of the responses. I appreciate the bible verses that support marriage and define what a husband should be to a wife. I grew up in an unhealthy enviornment and it helps to read a healthy definition. To answer Catwoman's question, this has been going on for about five years.

UPDATE: He actually admitted that he feels he is abusing me. He said he is going to work on it. We have had a beautiful marriage since that last explosion. With that said, we have not had any reason for him to be upset with me though. But I am not going to dwell on that, I love my husband and I love being his wife. God doesn't make mistakes, we obviously are meant to be together and I am obligated to serve him no matter how I feel. In the inside I still feel sad, but on the outside I feel good. Maybe God will fix my inside, God willing of course.
Love to all, Thank you!
God bless each of you!!!!!
 
I'm glad he's getting better but I listened to this audiobook about marriage that might really help. It describes different type of people and how prayer changes them and how you can recognize the changes in those people and how to deal with them as God fixes them.

I like it because it talks about setting boundaries with love and loving the person and not just the marriage and doing what is best for the spiritual health of the spouse even if it means leaving the marriage for a time for them to deal.

Each marriage is different but if you get a chance I definitely recommend you read or listen to the book...

lol can't find the title, will post it later

here is a website that has good advice:

Did God Really Say? Setting Godly Boundaries in Marriage - Focus on the Family
 
Thanks again for all of the responses. I appreciate the bible verses that support marriage and define what a husband should be to a wife. I grew up in an unhealthy enviornment and it helps to read a healthy definition. To answer Catwoman's question, this has been going on for about five years.

UPDATE: He actually admitted that he feels he is abusing me. He said he is going to work on it. We have had a beautiful marriage since that last explosion. With that said, we have not had any reason for him to be upset with me though. But I am not going to dwell on that, I love my husband and I love being his wife. God doesn't make mistakes, we obviously are meant to be together and I am obligated to serve him no matter how I feel. In the inside I still feel sad, but on the outside I feel good. Maybe God will fix my inside, God willing of course.
Love to all, Thank you!
God bless each of you!!!!!
I will continue to pray, glad to hear he see's what he has been doing.
 
I feel so empty and worthless. My husband's harsh words, when he is angry, and his lack of care for my existence, has worn me down to nothing. I am overweight and miserable, and feel that I cannot do anything about it. I feel that I am not even worth the effort it would take to make my shell pretty to others. I cannot stand when people say that I am pretty, infact I do not believe any compliments. They feel shallow, and the mean things my husband has said feel deep and heavy.
How can I ever love myself again? I pray about it, I pray to give me guidance to not upset my husabnd, or pray that my husband's heart is softened, among thousands of other prayers.[/QUOTE] FEELINGS OF UNWORTH AND LOW SELF ESTEEM IS NOT FROM THE LORD, YOUR RIGHT TO PRAY, BUT PRAY ALSO AND TAKE THESE WORDS TO THE ALTAR AND DESTROY THEM AT THE SEED OF THE ROOT, ACCORDING TO LUKE 10: 19 IN AUTORITY IN JESUS NAME. REMEMBER THE LORDS WORDS, IS WHAT YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT NOT THE NEGATIVE WORDS, AND YOUR SPIRIT WILL GET FILLED WITH PEACE AND LOVE FOR HIM. REMEMBER JESUS WORDS, AND WHEN THESE THINGS REPLAY IN YOUR MIND, PUSH THE REJECT BUTTON AND REMEMBER JESUS WORDS. HIS WORD PERMIATES THE DARKNESS. REMEMBER HIM REMEMBER HIS WORDS.
 
God of Power, May Your Love cover the multitude of all our sin. Amen.
 
:) YOU ARE ABLE TO LOVE AND TO BE LOVED, BECAUSE THE LORD IS WITHIN YOU. JOHN 17. FORGOT THOUGH TO SAY THIS. JAMES TAUGHT US THAT THE UNRULY MEMBER IS THE LITTLE MEMBER TONGUE, THAT SETS A FIRE FROM HELL. THINK ABOUT JESUS WORDS WHEN HURTFULL WORDS COME LIKE A RUSHING FLOOD INTO YOUR MIND. THINK AND READ JOHN 17 JESUS PRAYER, HE IS PRAYING THERE FOR US. HE LOVES US, AND IS WITH US, AND HIS POWER AND AUTHORITY CONQUERED DEATH AT CALVARY, AND WE HAVE LIFE BECAUSE HE LIVES. THOSE WHO LIVE GODLY WILL SUFFER PERSECUTION, BUT THE LORD KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER THEM. READ PSALMS. REMEMBER WHAT JESUS'S WORDS. FATHER I BIND THE ADVERSARY THAT HAS COME INTO THIS FAMILY, TO ROB HER HEALTH PEACE AND MARRIAGE, IN JESUS NAME. AMEN