Psychological Centrality

Image via WikipediaPsychological Centrality
This principle is basic to the formation of self-esteem because it represents a person's self-values.  The qualities that are psychologically central to a person will determine which of the inputs from others affect his or her self-esteem development; the extent to which one values a certain quality influences one's level of self-esteem.  For example, if committed discipleship is vital to one's feeling of worth, then negative attitudes concerning one's superficial level of commitment may be personally devastating; but if such commitment is seen as irrelevant to one's own pilgrimage, then the individual may lightheartedly acknowledge inadequacy in such matters with scarcely a twinge of discomfort.  What is critical here is the individual's system of self-values.

The principles of reflected appraisal, social comparison, self-attribution, and psychological centrality compose a complex set of processes in which feelings about self-identity are formed.  Such self feelings permeate a person's life, from moments after birth until death.

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Sub-principles

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All three sub-principles are concerned with the role of other people's attitudes in shaping a person's self-esteem.  Though conceptually distinct, all these processes may produce the same positive or negative result.  Consider the example of a person who has cheated on a mate.  If this is met with contempt by others, low self-esteem may be the result of direct reflection.  If, on the other hand, the person infers that others feel contempt (perhaps because of avoidance or refusal to establish eye contact), when in fact they have a product of the perceived self.  Finally, if the person condemns her- or himself (with consequent reduction in self-esteem) because he or she has internalized the value system of significant others, or of society as a whole, then even though others are not directly involved, self attitudes still would be regulated by other people's perspectives, or standpoints.

Social Comparison

The principle of social comparison is basic to self-esteem formation.  Human beings learn about themselves by comparing themselves to others.  This process leads to positive, neutral, or negative self-evaluations.  Two types of social comparison operate in the formation of self-esteem.  The first marks a person as superior or inferior to others, in terms of some criterion of excellence, merit, or virtue.  Brighter or duller, weaker or stronger, more good-looking or uglier - these are comparative labels requiring relative judgments, both about others and about the self.  The other type of social comparison is normative; it refers primarily to conformity or to deviance. The issue here is not whether one is better or worse, but whether one is the same or different.  For example, the adolescent reprimanded in the home for  nonconformity to certain rules or values is praised by his or her peers for the same behavior.  Conformity and deviance do not dwell in the behavior itself, but in its comparison to the norms of a particular social environment.

Self-Attribution
The principle of self-attribution relates to drawing evaluative conclusions about oneself, largely by observing one's own behavior and its outcome.  Persons can judge that they have done something brilliant and conclude they are worthwhile because of it.  An example is the seminarian who consistently does well in preaching and consequently concludes that he is a good preacher.  This conclusion is reached primarily not by consulting his inner experience, but by observing his behavior and its outcome.

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Reflected Appraisal

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Rosenberg has identified four principles that are related to self-concept formation, and which underlie the development of self-esteem, as well.  These principles are associated with interpersonal and social processes.

Reflected Appraisal
This principle holds that people are deeply influenced by the attitudes of others - especially, significant others - toward the self, and that in the course of time, people come to see themselves as they are viewed by others.  The significance of this in relation to the development of self-esteem can scarcely be overestimated.  Classified under this principle are three sub-principles.

The principle of direct reflections holds that self-esteem is influenced largely by the responses of others.  The person who was an unwanted child, never loved by parents, is likely to make a negative self-appraisal.  The communication process obliges such a person to assume the attitudes of other persons toward her- or himself.

The principle of the perceived self relates to one's perception of others' attitudes toward oneself.  The relationship between self-esteem and the perceived self is a strong one.  The point of this principle is that perception is more relevant than reality to the development of self-esteem.  An objective observer may think a parent is hateful and abusive toward a child, but if the child perceives the parent as warm and caring, this perceived attitude will be the one adopted toward the self.  This may explain why children in the same family have different levels of self-esteem, though they are treated in relatively similar ways by parents.

The principle of the generalized other relates to self-esteem that arises out of broad social experience.  The individual's self-esteem is shaped here by the attitudes of others - not as a direct reflection of those attitudes, but by applying to the self the attitudes of society as a whole.  Minority groups illustrate how this principle operates.  A pastor in the Bronx once told me, "Everybody in our neighborhood, black as well as white, sees Puerto Ricans as 'trash' and they treat them as 'trash.'  The worst thing is that the Puerto Ricans, as a result, see themselves as 'trash.'"

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High Self-Esteemers

Image via WikipediaHigh Self-Esteemers
High self-esteemers are self-affirmers; through self-validation, they feel basically confident about who they are.  Although they are not critical of themselves, they are realistically aware of both their strengths and their shortcomings.  High self-esteemers know and accept who they are.  They are confident of, happy with, and effective in their uniqueness as individuals.

High self-esteemers tend to be productive, competent persons.  Such individuals often are academically competent, creative, and/or leadership-oriented.  They are not threatened easily by criticism or failure and are able to tolerate frustration.  Far from being intimidated by difficult situations, they welcome the challenge of ambiguity, uncertainty, and complexity.  Such persons are problem solvers.

High esteemers enjoy other people and are eager to become involved wholeheartedly with them.  Rather than being isolated and lonely, they take the initiative in interpersonal relations.  They tend to be warm, assertive, caring, reliable, and trusting toward others.  They exercise a great degree of interpersonal competence in social situations.

These happy, affirming persons have a positive view of life and of God.  They approach daily living with a fundamental attitude of hope, which enables them to extend themselves into the future by establishing remote, not easily attainable, but ultimately highly rewarding goals.  They trust their environment and their ability to cope with its problems.

Their faith perspective affirms a loving, accepting, and caring God.  Faith is joy and celebration, and goes beyond agreement with doctrinal statements to affirm an experienced reality.  Faith is primarily a personal relationship with a caring God.

Such persons often have moral courage and are able to stand up for their convictions.  They are relatively free of the crippling feelings of self-inflicted guilt.  Since their basic orientation is an empathic concern for others, they frequently feel more troubled by an inability to resolve the larger social problems of inequality, suffering, and injustice; to resolve the discrepancy between what is, and what ought to be, than by a burden of unresolved guilt and anxiety over their own behavior.

As these profiles demonstrate, self-esteem has important consequences, which vitally affect the manner in which persons respond to themselves and to the outside world.  To gain further insight into persons, an examination of the way self-esteem is developed should prove helpful.

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Low Self-Esteemers

Image by Travis S. via FlickrLow Self-Esteemers

These lonely, unhappy people tend to have a negative view of life and of God. They usually  are anxious about the future and bored with life; life is often quite meaningless.  They tend to see God as unloving, rejecting, and vindictive.  Their self-image seems to require a God who punishes, rather than one who loves the sinner.

Middle Self-Esteemers
Middle self-esteemers are self-doubters; they often have questions about their value and feel they must earn the love of others.  Rather than taking venturesome risks, such persons play it safe in order to protect their feelings of self-worth.  To avoid failure they tend to be conformists and are compliant toward others - especially authority figures - because they are quite dependent on interpersonal acceptance to validate their own worthiness.

Middle self-esteemers can be expressive and take some criticism.  They have an average amount of confidence, given their relatively stable, contented self-feelings.  As a result, they have moderate capacities and achievements in academic ability, leadership, and creativity.

Middle self-esteemers use social situations to validate their worth.  They seek recognition and approval from others to erase self-doubt; being uncertain about their ultimate value, the approval of others is the key to personal well-being.  often middle self-esteemers are people-pleasers, at all costs.  They live with a driving ambition to succeed, are status seekers, are never quite satisfied, and continually are playing a role to please others.  When others reject them or criticize them too much, self-doubt sets in.

These uncertain persons have a more optimistic view of life and of God than do the low self-esteemers.  Life is an arena in which they must prove themselves, and as a result,  it is a never-ending pilgrimage of achievement and approval, failure and self-questioning.  Such persons may affirm the forgiving love of God as important to their belief system, but emotionally and behaviorally, they live out their Christian discipleship according to the law of achievement.  Grace is merely a word, rather than a life principle.  Religion is used for status purposes, rather than being a platform for creative, committed discipleship.

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The Importance of Self-Esteem

Image via WikipediaThe Importance of Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is an important factor in the dynamics of preaching because of its fundamental significance in the lives of people.  The importance of self-esteem to the well-being of persons can hardly be over emphasized.

Nathaniel Branden has pointed out that there is no value judgment more basic to persons - no factor more decisive in their psychological development and motivation - than the estimate they place on themselves.  This estimate is ordinarily experienced by individual, not in the form of a conscious, verbalized judgment, but in a feeling that is difficult to isolate and identify because persons experience it constantly; it is a part of all other feelings and is involved in every emotional response.  The nature of this self-evaluation has a profound effect upon a person's thinking processes, emotions, desires, values, and goals.  To understand persons psychologically, one must understand the nature and degree of their self-esteem and the standards by which they judge themselves.

The realization of the way persons value themselves provides a window upon the way they are likely to view others,  and God.  Self-esteem levels influence such matters as the friends persons choose, the degree to which they are productive, the use they make of their abilities and aptitudes, their attitude toward the universe and toward God, and their overall happiness in the midst of life's circumstances and contingencies.

Low Self-Esteemers
Low self-esteemers tend to be self-haters; they are convinced of their inferiority and feel unlovable.  Such persons place unreasonable demands upon themselves, and when they fail, are strongly critical and self-punishing.  Aiming for unrealistic goals only serves to magnify their weaknesses.

Low self-esteemers perceive others as competent, talented, and able, but they do not see such qualities in themselves.  They lack confidence in the abilities they do have.  As a result, they tend to be unproductive, and they lack cognitive skills, leadership ability, and creativity.  Being preoccupied with inner problems, such persons expect to fail in whatever they attempt and thereby adopt a "why try" attitude.  Indeed, much of their energy is channeled into inventing highly creative ways to fail.

Low self-esteemers are fearful of social situations and lack confidence in their interpersonal communicative abilities.  Indeed, such persons tend to be shy, withdrawn, indifferent, undependable, aloof , and distrustful of others.  They often project their self-hatred upon others in prejudicial ways.  Such persons often want the affection of others but are unable to open their lives to others in caring, affirming, trusting ways.

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Underlying Processes

Image by SweeMing YOUNG via FlickrUnderlying Processes

When self-esteem is thought of as self-affection, or self-love, it refers to worth in a moral or existential sense.  A person is regarded not as a means to specific goals, but as an end in him- or herself.  Self-accepting persons are those who have an accurate perception of themselves in terms of strengths and weaknesses.  They have the ability to face the reality that they are not all they would like to be, yet they live happily and creatively with this self-awareness.  Persons with this sense of personal worth do more than accept their strengths and weaknesses; they also reflect patient hope and quiet conviction that they will grow toward greater wholeness.  Though such persons may criticize themselves, it is without judging condemnation; though they may acknowledge personal limitations, it is with minimal feelings of inadequacy.  The principle of acceptance undergirds this perspective.

Descriptions of self-esteem as self-affection point to personal, moral, or existential worth, as opposed to pragmatic, or instrumental, value.  Self-evaluation tends to view the self as an "it," with varying degrees of value, whereas self-love tends to view the self as a "thou," with varying degrees of worth.  One is based upon personal accomplishment and recognition; the other, upon ontological acceptance, or the valuing of one's own being.

These two forms of self-esteem operate in all persons.  persons affectively evaluate what they can do (instrumental achievement).  our culture seems to value the instrumental approach more than the existential approach,  and perhaps this is the reason some writers feel there is an epidemic of self-doubt, despair, and self-hatred in our society.

Dimensions
As a complex value judgment about personhood, self-esteem can be further understood by examining two dimensions related to it - breadth and depth.

Self-esteem has breadth to the extent that persons judge themselves positively in many specific areas of life - preaching, visiting, parenting, swimming, or cooking; it is narrowed when individuals restrict positive evaluations to only one or two aspects of their personhood, and all other areas are viewed negatively.

Self-esteem demonstrates a high degree of depth when it endures in spite of minor or major setbacks - flunking a test or being seriously ill; it is superficial when it gives way to minor, or even imaginary, experiences (e.g., fear of not doing well).

Most persons have a mixture of positive and negative feelings about themselves, growing out of their life experiences.  These feelings have emerged from being recognized or ignored, and cover the whole gamut of self-pictures, in varying degrees of breadth and depth.

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Self-concept

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Self-esteem, then, is the degree to which a person accepts and values him- or herself.  It is a feeling about one's personal worthiness.

Self-concept is cognitive in nature; self-esteem is attitudinal.  The self-concept is the picture of the self, whereas self-esteem is the attitude one has as related to that picture.  Part of one's self-picture might be the image of preacher - a functional role that is performed in ministry.  Different preachers have varied feelings about that self-image, however.  Some talk about the preaching function of ministry with delight and joy and feel good about that aspect of their vocation.  Others speak about it with a sense of frustration and anguish and feel quite negative about that dimension of their professional identity.

Both self-concept and self-esteem are important in the preaching process, and each relates to both congregation and preacher, since both pastor and people carry self-pictures and self-feelings.  However, many writers believe that self-esteem may be the more important of the two.

Self-esteem is a complex value judgment that persons make about themselves.  This complexity can be understood by examining some process that are related to self-esteem.

Underlying Processes
Wells and Marwell distinguish between two main processes - evaluation and affection.  Self-evaluation and self-affection constitute two types of self-esteem which result from diverse forms of positive experience - relationship formation and achievement success.  The two primary focuses of personal esteem are power and worth, or status and acceptance.

When self-esteem is thought of as self-evaluation, it refers to worth in a utilitarian, or instrumental, sense.  From this perspective, a person is viewed as a purposive instrumental, sense.  From this perspective, a person is viewed as a purposive instrument and is evaluated in the same terms as any other implement.  An assignment of some judgment - such as good or bad - is made on the basis of an object's usefulness and/or accomplishment (e.g., the whole person, an ability, a personal characteristic, a behavioral style).  The level of self-esteem is rooted in personal achievement and recognition.  The principle of achievement underlies this understanding of self-esteem.

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Self-esteem

Self-esteem

To understand the nature of self-esteem, one needs a definition, as well as a comprehension of its underlying processes and dimensions.

Defining SelAf-Esteem
In contemporary psychological literature, there are a variety of terms used to refer to the self: Self-concept, self-image, self-representation, and self-picture are used to refer to the way a person sees and thinks of him- or herself; other terms, such as self-regard, self-acceptance, self-esteem, self-worth, self-respect, and self-love, are employed for indicating evaluation of the self - how favorably a person feels toward him- or herself.

For some theorists, "self-concept" encompasses both how one sees oneself and how one feels about oneself.  For example, Morris Rosenberg purports that self-concept refers to "the totality of the individual's thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object."

I find it helpful to differentiate between self-concept and self-esteem.  Self-concept refers to the way a person consciously perceives him- or herself.   The central core of that concept usually consists of one's name, body feelings, body image, sex, age, job, family, social class, religious affiliation, noted achievements, and other things that make one unique among others - the cognitive picture one holds of oneself.

According to Michael Argyle, "self-esteem is the extent to which a person approves of and accepts himself, and regards himself as praiseworthy, either absolutely or in comparison with others."  Stanley Coopersmith indicates that self-esteem refers to

the evaluation which the individual makes and customarily maintains with regard to himself: it expresses an attitude of approval or disapproval, and indicates the extent to which the individual believes himself to be capable, significant, successful, and worthy.  In short, self-esteem is a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in attitudes the individual holds toward himself.

Please God

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If we are to live a life that will please God, we must, like Jesus, form the habit of always doing His will.  Read John 8:29.

What did Jesus always do in regard to His Father?
What reward did Christ receive from His Father?  He was not left .
Why did God the Father not leave Jesus alone?
What had the Father said about the Son at the time of Jesus' baptism and start of His ministry?

When we say we are PLEASED with someone, we mean that we are happy and satisfied with everything the person has done.  Doing the WILL of God and PLEASING God are two things which require constant work in all areas of our lives.

According to Matthew 3:17, who was well pleased with the Son?
God was not only pleased with the Son, but what else did He feel toward Him?
Why is it that the Father loved the Son and never left Him alone?  Because Jesus ALWAYS Him, DOING His
We have learned several of Jesus' names.  They are: Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of God, the Son of Man, and so on. But, God gives Jesus another name because Jesus always did His will.  According to Matthew 12:18, what name did God give Him?  The, in whom .

The phrase "The One I Love" in Matthew 12:18 is a proper name.  It is the kind of name we give to people because of their good qualities.  Why did God give Jesus this name?  Because Jesus always did His .

We have seen that Jesus enjoyed all the fullness of this double blessing from the Father, because He always did the will of God instead of His own will.

He was the One I Love of the Father because He enjoyed the of God.
The Father never left Him alone.  So then, we can see that He also enjoyed the of God.
Jesus said: "If anyone loves Me, he will obey my teaching; My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23)  In this verse, we see that obedience to the TEACHING of CHRIST is the same thing as doing the WILL of God.

If we do the will of God, who will love us?
Who will make their home with us?
We can see how wonderful it is to consecrate our will completely to God in love.  The double blessing that Jesus enjoyed will also be ours:  The of God.  The of God.

If Christians would really learn to give their wills to God and allow Him to give them strength to do His will, what a change there would be in the church and in the world.  For this reason, we ought to all pray that our will might be controlled completely by His Spirit.

Doing the Will

Image via Wikipedia Doing the will

On the other hand, doing the will of God can also become a habit.  Read Luke 4:16.

Who went to the synagogue?
Why did He go there?
Jesus gives us an example that we should all imitate.  He had the habit of doing the will of His Father.  What examples have we seen of the way in which we can form a habit of:

NOT doing the will of God?
DOING the will of God?
In the list below, click by the side of those you think to be helpful in forming the HABIT of DOING the will of God:

Obedience to God
Lying
Orderliness
Being kind to one's boss
Being kind to employees
Cheating in work
Telling "little white lies"
Not reading the Bible
Talking about people
Disobeying one's boss
Being kind
Being happy
Not attending church services
Being sloppy
Although it may seem that these things are not very important, they play a big part in the formation of a habit of doing the will of God.  When you marked them, you showed that you knew what it meant to do the will of God.  However, because of the power of the enemy, there are times when you do not manage to do what you know is good and right.  Read Ephesians 2:3.

Before we were saved, we constantly gratified the of our .
Look back to the list of things which correspond to the will of the flesh.  In the space below, add three more items from your own experience.

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NOT to do the will of God

Image via WikipediaNOT to do the will of God?

Read Matthew 26:47-56.

Who was the only disciple that was NOT sleeping at this time?
Who sent an armed guard to arrest Jesus?
With what sign did Judas betray Jesus?
Read John 18:10.  Who pulled out his sword?
Whom did he wound with the sword?
Read Luke 22:51.  What did Jesus do?
Now read Matthew 26:52.  What did Jesus say?
According to Matthew 26:51 and Matthew 26:53, what two groups were willing to fight to defend Jesus?  a.  His , b.  The
Jesus quietly surrendered Himself to His enemies.  Why didn't He allow them to fight in His defense?  Read Matthew 26:54 and 56.  He was determined to obey the announced in the .
Because Jesus practiced a Close relationship with His Heavenly Father, He was able to overcome by means of a consecrated will.  What means did Jesus use on three different occasions in Gethsemane to overcome the temptation NOT to do the will of God?

Prayer is the means by which we can get the spiritual strength we need to do the will of God.

According to verse 38, what had Jesus asked His disciples to do?
Did the disciples obey this?
What means did they NOT use to overcome temptation?
According to verse 41, Jesus' request was: "Watch and ."
What was Jesus doing while His disciples slept?
Read Matthew 26:40.  Jesus rebuked His disciples with a question.  What was that question?
Jesus gained the needed strength to surrender His will to God through the means of .
With the help of the Holy Spirit, you and I can also find the necessary strength to do the will of God.  We already know in our hearts whether or not we have used this strength correctly like Jesus did, or if we have followed the will of the flesh like the disciples in Gethsemane.  The sad fact is that each time you put this spiritual strength aside, you begin to form the HABIT of disobeying the will of God.  This can be applied to all the daily situations of our lives.  For example, Read Hebrews 10:25.

What was the habit of some people?
For those believers who did not gather together , NOT doing the will of God had become a .

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The Spirit

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A person's will is that FORCE within the SPIRIT which causes one to DO or NOT TO DO something.

According to this definition, what is the will?  It is a .
What does this SPIRITUAL FORCE do?  It causes a person or something.
How many people have this spiritual force within them?  It is in persons.
So then, is this same spiritual force found in you?
Remember that the EMOTIONS include only the DESIRE to do something.  On the other hand, the WILL moves us TO DO IT.  Thus, it requires a strong spiritual force.  In Romans 7:18, Paul said, "For I have the DESIRE to do what is good, but I cannot CARRY IT OUT."  Which part of Paul's personality was weak?

It is not the DESIRE to do good which is the hardest for us, but the actual DOING.  Which part of our personality, then, is the hardest one for us to allow God to control?

The believer should give ALL of his personality to God, including one's will.  But, what is a surrendered will?  According to Jesus in John 6:38, a surrendered will means NOT doing , but .

Now that We have discovered what the word "Will" means and includes, we are going to look at what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Our study will deal with doing the Will of God or not doing it.

We must always remember that Jesus Christ was not only truly God, but He was also truly man.  Read Matthew 26:45.

What title does Jesus use for Himself when he talks about His coming death?
Jesus was a real man with a body, with nerves, and with feelings just  like ours.  What would have been Jesus' reaction as man when facing crucifixion?
However, in spite of this natural desire to avoid death, how does Jesus show His complete obedience to the will of His Father?

In Matthew 26:39
In Matthew 26:42
Yes, the consecrated will demands spiritual FORCE or STRENGTH.  Medical doctors state that, under certain circumstances of extreme SPIRITUAL OR MORAL STRENGTH OR FORCE, the body oversteps itself.  It goes beyond itself in such a way that the very small blood vessels under the skin burst.  Blood is then forced out into the sweat of the person.  What physical sign serves as proof of the great SPIRITUAL FORCE that Jesus used in accepting the will of God in the Garden of Gethsemane against His own human desires?  Read Luke 22:44. 

The WILL is the Spiritual Force which is required, not only in talking about the Will of God, but also in DOING the will of God.  We shall see that Jesus not only said that He would accept the will of God, but He DID the will of God.  Jesus surrendered Himself quietly to His enemies in the Garden of Gethsemane.

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The Will

Image by humberpike via FlickrThe will

Jesus and His disciples left the Upper Room after the Last Supper was finished.  According to John 18:1, where did Jesus and His disciples go?  They went across the valley to a .

Read Matthew 26:36.  What was the name of this garden? .  On what mountain was the garden located? .

Read about the events in Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36-46.

What did Jesus plan to do in the Garden of Gethsemane?
With this in mind, He went farther into the garden with the three disciples who were closest to Him.  What were the names of these disciples.  But, in case you do not remember them, look up Mark 14:33. 
How many times did Jesus leave His disciples to pray alone?
What were the disciples doing while Jesus prayed?
According to the Scripture, was the disciples' failure due to the weakness of their spirit or the weakness of the flesh?
Whose will did the Lord Jesus want to do?
In this subject, we are going to study THE WILL.  This is the third and last part of the human personality which we will study.  We have said that the Great Commandment gives us a very clear understanding of the Human Personality.  Which of the four words that Jesus used in Mark 12:30 means the same as the following:

the emotions?
the intellect?
the will?
the whole personality?
Remember that God created man a living SOUL in His own image.  This means that God created man PERFECT in every part.  Man was made: 

Perfect in his
Perfect in his
Perfect in his
But, what was the condition of man's personality after he fell into sin?  Man's personality was out of in every area.

Read Ephesians 2:3.  How did Paul describe the WILL which is distorted and unbalanced by sin?  "Gratifying the cravings of our sinful ."
Because our human will has been weakened by sin, Jesus calls us to surrender our whole personality to God, including our will.  What part of the human personality was Jesus talking about when He said that we should love God with all our strength?

What if Jesus came today? - Chapter 1 - Purpose in writing

Many people have undertaken to publish an account of the things that has been fulfilled in the "New Testament" within the Bible.  This presentation is being provided to answer the question "What if Jesus came today; instead of over 2,000 years ago." 
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I am telling Jesus story from the unique perspective of Jesus being born in a modern city of today.  I will maintain an accurate "bringing forth in time of His story;" and that the foundations of Christian belief be transmitted intact to these generations.  In this "brought forward" story we will update Jesus' parables.

This story will use the four Gospels as the primary resource.  They will be used in a "harmonized" format (the timing of the gospels will be considered as one).  Also Jesus' life, teachings, and ministry will be updated but kept as close to accurate as this process will allow.  This story will encourage you to investigate it's accuracy within the Bible itself, because your conclusion about Jesus is a life-and-death matter.

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