It is widely agreed that life adversity is inevitable in human life. In fact, it exerts deleterious effects on mental health and wellbeing [1-4]. Empirically, life adversity has been attested to have a strong association with mental health problems such as affective and anxiety disorders [5-7], personality disorders [8,9], depression [8], and post-traumatic stress disorder [6,8]. Despite the negative effects on humans, life adversity has been demonstrated to have beneficial effects. For instance, after going through adverse life events, some individuals reported as finding meaningful life lessons and a renewed appreciation for life, as well as having an increased feelings of personal strength [10,11]. Similarly, in the field of psychology of religion, for example in Christianity, life adversity is viewed as the opportunity for finding meaning or purpose of life - like suffering is God’s plan for life transformation [12,13], attaining spiritual growth - like life suffering is a way to identify with Jesus Christ [14,15], nurturing character strength of becoming more - like Jesus Christ [14,15], and developing virtues such as generosity, diligence, love, and humility [13,16]. These positive changes taking place in the aftermath of life adversity will in turn lead to more effective coping and adjustment [15,17,18], improved physical and mental health [12,15,19], and higher life satisfaction [12,20,21]. In this light, this article attempts to revisit the positive implications of life adversity in terms of the Christianity perspective of religious self-esteem (RSE) [22].

RSE refers to the sense of worthiness people derive from evaluating themselves against the values, virtues, morality, and behavioral code of Christian belief [22,23]. According to Lai & Wong-Ip [22], as God created humans and is the lord of their lives (1 Samuel 2:3; Psalm 65:6), the self-esteem of Christians should not be rooted in their own value but in God’s value. Besides, based on biblical teaching, they came up with three postulates of humans - human beings are captives of sin, pride is rebellion against God, and the core of servanthood is self-abnegation – which may lower their self-esteem. Following from this, it is argued that the self-esteem of Christians appears to have no direct bearing on their subjective wellbeing (SWB) [22,23]. In this light, a review of extant literature is supportive of this argument, in that no consistent pattern of relationship can be identified between Christianity, self-esteem and wellbeing [e.g., 23-25]. Hence, to bridge the gap between them, RSE is proposed as an alternative source of esteem for Christians [22,23]. It is postulated that RSE comprises three dimensions under which indicators are subsumed - cognition (eternal thinking, sacrificial thinking), relationship with God (faith, trust, submission, obedience), and meaning in life (spread of love, mission) [22]. Correspondingly, Christians evaluate their sense of worth against these dimensions. To be specific, the indicators in each dimension are standards against which Christians calibrate their self-esteem. That is, the higher the standard they can achieve, the higher their RSE will be and vice versa. Furthermore, serving as an alternative source of worth for Christians, RSE is proposed to have a stronger influence on Christians than self-esteem, making a greater contribution to their wellbeing.

In view of the above, RSE, at the theoretical level, allows for a better understanding of the esteem of Christians. Additionally, at the practical level, RSE may have therapeutic benefits. Empirically, much research evidence has demonstrated that low self-esteem has been associated with psychological disorders and mental health problems such as psychosis [26,27], depressive disorders [28-30], anxiety disorders [28,31,32] and eating disorders [33-35]. Hence, being a source of felt worthiness supplementary to self-esteem, RSE may be incorporated, for example, in spiritually/religiously integrated cognitive behavioral therapy or pastoral counselling. In effect, it is inferred that an increase in RSE may compensate for low self-esteem; thus, allowing for the improvement of mental health condition and enhancement of SWB.

Given that RSE is significant for Christian wellbeing, how can it be nurtured? The key factor is through life adversity. In other words, without going through life adversity, the eight characteristics of RSE can hardly be nurtured, which is elaborated as follows:

To develop RSE, it is crucial for people to be able to view things through God’s vision (Ephesians 4:20–23). Hence, it is essential to develop new ways of thinking i.e., eternal thinking and sacrificial thinking [22].

In the mundane world, the goal of life is usually defined in terms of power, possession, prestige, and position [36]. However, the Bible states that all these things are transient (1 Corinthians 7:31) and that earth is only a temporary residence (Hebrews 13:14). In a bid to spend eternity with God in heaven, people should not get too attached to the world [36]; rather, they should spend their present lives as a preparation for eternity by living a life glorifying God (Matthew 5:16). To this end, the adherents are advised to unlearn conventional values. However, behaving in a way not in conformity with conventional values may lead to life suffering. That is, these people may be viewed as the deviants and hence to be disliked, rejected, ridiculed, and dismissed, which can be hard to take [37]; just like Jesus Christ, who was also viewed as a deviant when disseminating the gospel and had to endure the criticism, expulsion and persecution of the opponents. As humans are social in nature, these negative social experiences are in fact a kind of life adversity, causing pain to them [37]. Hence, it seems that the nurturance of eternal thinking necessitates perseverance in facing such kinds of life adversity.

Apart from eternal thinking, sacrificial thinking is another new way of thinking imperative for the development of RSE. In Christianity, to be a follower of God is to be a servant of God (Luke 1:38; 1 Corinthians 3:5–9). In this analogy, serving others implies self-sacrifice for God (Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20). According to biblical teachings, sacrifice has an all-encompassing implication, i.e., sacrifice connotes surrendering all one has for God (Mark 12:42–44), enduring suffering for God (Philippians 1:29), and to the extent of surrendering one’s life for God (Matthew 14:10; Acts 20:24). As such, the nurturance of sacrificial thinking necessitates a mental shift from self-orientation to other-orientation. In other words, people should not look to their own interests but place other’s interest above self-interest (Philippians 2:4). Following from this, life adversity is in fact inevitable in Christians’ lives; nevertheless, it is beneficial for developing the mind characterized by sacrificial thinking.

In sum, life adversity is essential for nurturing a mind characterized by eternal and sacrificial thinking. Yet, people need not be fearful of going through life adversity, given that we can rely on the love of God because God is love and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them (1 John 4:16,18). That is, with the assurance of God’s love, people can endure suffering and look forward to the beneficial outcome of going through suffering.

Christianity teaches that God is a living God (Daniel 6:20) and so people can enter into a personal relationship with God [38-40]. In this line, it is held that a good relationship with God should be characterized by faith, trust, submission, and obedience [22], characteristics that can only be nurtured when going through life adversity. That is, when people are in good times, they don’t think they have any need to build a relationship with God. However, when people are in bad times, they are inclined to hold tight to God and take heed of the importance of building a relationship with God.

Faith can be defined as certainty in what people hope for and what they do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Thus, in the encounter of life adversity beyond human control, it presents an opportunity for people to lean towards God by putting faith in God. This faith is rested in the belief that God loves them and will do what is best for them (Romans 8:28), which in turn allows them to have a peace of mind [36]. In other words, going through life adversity is the best way to perfect faith in God [36].

Trust and faith are related in the sense that faith concerns trust in the promises of God [38,39]. In this light, people’s trust in God is based on the promise that God is always with them through tribulations (Matthew 28:20). According to biblical teachings, God will never leave or forsake those in a predicament (Hebrews 13:5). In fact, God is ever-present and is prepared to help those who ask for help (Matthew 7:7–8; 2 Corinthians 12:9). Hence, life adversity represents an opportune time for people to nurture trust in God.

Submission refers to a way of handling life adversity by Christians. That is, in face of adverse life events, people are encouraged to submit them to God by simply allowing God to do the work (Psalm 37:5). Hence, in facing life difficulty, people are advised to pray to God and acquaint God with it. After that, they can simply step back and watch the power of God at work in their lives, with no further care required of them [36]. Accordingly, this characterization can only be nurtured through life adversity.

Obedience refers to the compliance with whatever God plans and arranges, rested in the belief that God always acts in people’s best interests, even when putting them through life adversity (Hebrews 5:8–9). To nurture this characteristic, people are advised not to run away and try to find ways to escape the trials that God has set for them; otherwise, God can no longer do anything for them [36]. In this regard, the encounter of life adversity seems necessary for the nurturance of obedience to God.

In short, the above four characterizations, pertinent to the establishment of a relationship with God, can only be nurtured through life adversity. Yet, it is noteworthy that such building of relationship should start with the belief that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that God has loved humanity with an everlasting love and unfailing kindness (Jeremiah 31:3). That is, the assurance of God’s love is a precondition for the nurturance of the above four characterizations.

According to the conceptualization of RSE, meaning in life is comprised of two characteristics - spread of love and mission [22]. In similar vein, these two characteristics can only be nurtured by going through life adversity.

Christianity teaches that God creates humans because of love [36]. Thus, people should build their lives on this belief by loving one another to glorify God (John 13:34–35). As stated in Ephesians (2:10), love connotes service. In turn, serving others implies sacrificing oneself for others. In this light, the utmost manifestation is to lay down one’s life for others, just as Jesus laid down his life for humanity (John 3:16). In line with this teaching of love, the endurance of suffering and hardship seems necessary for realizing and nurturing this characteristic.

Mission is another meaning in life for Christians, which is to introduce people to God and share religious belief with unbelievers (Matthew 28:19–20). However, it is likely that the preachers have to endure suffering and hardship in their mission. As mentioned above, in an attempt to persuade the unbelievers to unlearn conventional values and warn the unbelievers of the danger of sin, these preachers may be viewed as deviants and hence be refused, ridiculed and ejected. In this light, life adversity seems to be inherent in the missionary commission. Despite this, a triumph over adversity implies the accomplishment of a mission.

In view of the above, it seems that life adversity is the key factor to the nurturance of RSE. In a commonsensical view, life adversity is something dreadful and avoidable. However, from the RSE perspective, life adversity is not dreadful but approachable, as it presents opportunities for Christians to nurture the eight characteristics of RSE, which in turn enhances their wellbeing. As stated in the Bible, it was good for you to suffer (Psalm 119:71). In fact, when you suffer, you are blessed (1 Peter 4:12-19). All these are vested in the belief that God will sustain believers with love in the encounter of life adversity (Psalms 36:7; Psalms 109:26). In this analogy, it is the love of God which entails adversity to embrace.