Love Thyself!

Love Thyself!

I understand this will make some folks uncomfortable. I can see the gears in your mind working through this, “What does he mean, Love Thyself!” We’re not supposed to do that. Wrong.

We know the first greatest commandment is to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, all you soul, and all your mind.’ The second greatest commandment is of equal importance: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-40).

There is an inferred third commandment listed. We understand you will love your neighbor to the extent you love yourself. People typically love those closest to them in a similar fashion as they love themselves.

Individuals emulate what is inside. People who express anger at others do so because they are generally angry with themselves. They have lost control of something, so anger results, and someone else ends up being the beneficiary of their anger. Either now or later.

We cannot love God if we don’t love the people around us. And, we cannot love those around us if we don’t love ourselves.

I am not talking about self-adulation, self-adoration, self-exaltation, or narcissism. If we don’t have a healthy love for ourselves, we cannot wholly and effectively love others. If we cannot effectively love others, then we cannot wholly love God.

The Result of Not Loving Thyself

When somebody does not love themself, they have a low self-image or a poor sense of self.

There are certain temperaments, which are naturally prone to think negatively about themselves. We can overcome this belief system by looking at ourselves through the ‘eyes of Christ’ rather than through our own eyes.

We can find self-image teaching in the Bible using the word ‘humility.’ We define a humble view of self as an accurate view of self. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Benefits of Loving Thyself

God has poured into each individual abilities, capabilities, and talent. Learn to embrace who God created you to be. Learn to appreciate God’s creative genius in you. Then let Him use you as He desires. You will be blown away, and the Kingdom will benefit.

“Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35b).

Leave a Comment





Archives

You might also like these articles...

The Angry Patriot Prophet

Jonah was the angry patriot prophet. Jonah was a prophet who was a patriot. And he was a patriot who was a prophet. In reading the book of Jonah, it seems that he was a patriot before he was a prophet. At least, that is the way I read it. Jonah admits to believing God…

Read More

The BIBLE

One of the songs I learned growing up in Sunday school was “The BIBLE.” It goes like this: “The BIBLE, yes that’s the Book for me. I stand upon the Word of God, the BIBLE.” When we sang the word “BIBLE,” we would spell it out. It was great fun. The Psalmist had much to…

Read More

I Have Never Done This Before!

Yes, you read, right. I’m about to do something I’ve never done before, and it’s not easy for me to do, but here goes. DayStar Ministries is in its 6th year of operation. During this time, we have been able to help many individuals and couples navigate a variety of situations. Most of those we…

Read More