Self-hatred isn't spiritual maturity, it's legalism. God says if you're in Christ, you're already new, justified, and forgiven. Stop talking down to yourself. Seeing yourself worse than God sees you is arrogance.
The new you is the real you. Have you noticed that some Christians seem to think that the more you hate yourself, the more spiritual you are? Now, we should resist sinful desires, of course, but don't you know that you are new in Christ? Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Now, it can feel so right to talk down to ourselves. It can feel so virtuous to be mean and critical, but this is just a self-righteous heart seeking to earn favor with God through self-inflicted mental and emotional pain. And it's legalism. Subject the flesh, as in the sin nature, of course. But the real you, who you are in Christ, that's the you God wants to bring out. Who you are in Christ is who you really are. If God sees us as justified, new, forgiven, and loved, It's sheer arrogance to see ourselves in any other way.
