Perhaps, the question is, what do we allow to most inform how we see ourselves?
If we see ourselves largely through the lens of how we believe others see us, we set ourselves up for some serious problems and can only end up in arrogance or despair. We will always be trying to keep track of what others expect of us, what we need to be, and never be able to let our guard down or relax. For sure, we won't be able to be who we really are.
If we see ourselves primarily through a definition we come up with on our own, even if we succeed in shunning how others inform that, we likely will end up absorbed with ourselves, only able to serve our own interests, concerns, or threats. Not to mention, alone.
We must then learn to understand who we are based on something else....not from others, not simply from our own constructs.
Our only viable option is to see ourselves from God's perspective, how He sees us.
...then, we can discover who we really are.
And, it no longer is necessary to get others to see us in a certain way.
