We live in a world that seems to be centered around "self." Self-helps, self-serve, and self-esteem are a few buzz words we use to describe life. But what about "self-love?" Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it. "Self-love." Are we to love ourselves? Is it right? Is it healthy? Is it permissible? It seems that people who love themselves are resisted, looked down upon and viewed as social outcasts. Pride is not a very attractive personal quality. But there is a healthy, balanced side to loving yourself. In actuality, learning how to love yourself promotes confidence, contentment, and emotional stability. Here's my take on the subject! I hope it helps.
We are called upon to love our neighbors. A neighbor is not just the guy living in the house next to ours, but is categorized in Scripture as anyone. So then, the command we are given is to love people. Sounds simple doesn't it? Wait a second. What about those who rub us the wrong way? Let's face it, there are people who are not easy to love. They seem to be angry at the world and simply exude a sense of misery. They never smile, they are cantankerous, and they just don't want to be bothered. We are supposed to love them as well. But that's not even the focal point of the command. How we are to love the "unlovable" is even more difficult? The qualification of loving others is that we love them as we love ourselves. In other words, if we are not loving them as we love ourselves, we disqualify ourselves. So then, self-love qualifies us to love others.
Self-love means that we are content with who we are and that we don't try to measure ourselves against others. Self-love is possessing a healthy respect for what God has made us to be. It is coming to grips with our lot in life and recognizing both our abilities and our limitations. Self-love is the bedrock for loving others. Self-love means that we can forgive ourselves for making mistakes, humble ourselves for making them, and learn from each of them. It also means that we can appropriately handle compliments without blowing them off or blowing them out of proportion. We cannot give what we do not have. Think about it!
We are called upon to love our neighbors. A neighbor is not just the guy living in the house next to ours, but is categorized in Scripture as anyone. So then, the command we are given is to love people. Sounds simple doesn't it? Wait a second. What about those who rub us the wrong way? Let's face it, there are people who are not easy to love. They seem to be angry at the world and simply exude a sense of misery. They never smile, they are cantankerous, and they just don't want to be bothered. We are supposed to love them as well. But that's not even the focal point of the command. How we are to love the "unlovable" is even more difficult? The qualification of loving others is that we love them as we love ourselves. In other words, if we are not loving them as we love ourselves, we disqualify ourselves. So then, self-love qualifies us to love others.
Self-love means that we are content with who we are and that we don't try to measure ourselves against others. Self-love is possessing a healthy respect for what God has made us to be. It is coming to grips with our lot in life and recognizing both our abilities and our limitations. Self-love is the bedrock for loving others. Self-love means that we can forgive ourselves for making mistakes, humble ourselves for making them, and learn from each of them. It also means that we can appropriately handle compliments without blowing them off or blowing them out of proportion. We cannot give what we do not have. Think about it!
1 comment:
Well!!! This one has required a lot of thought. I have a grip on the "self-love" part. God didn't give me a brain to be a rocket scientist, but he did give me a brain. We have to forgive ourselves for our mistakes otherwise we would be miserable creatures. We have to understand that we all have limits and that it's okay. God made each of us into a special package and the only way of thanking him is to love what he gave us. He gave us a heart and a brain that have to work together. The heart is used to love ourselves and our neighbors. We use our brain to divide the good and the bad in people. There is such a fine line between the person and his actions. My heart says to love, my brain says to understand the difference, but my eyes see the whole thing. You said we have to look beyond the sin. Well, we know God made everyone with goodness. So we have to believe these people still have a smidgeon of good in them and we just need to use "tunnel vision" to see it. We need to focus on a small section rather than the big picture. That's tough. But God does not give us anything we cannot handle. So if we accept God into our lives, we have to follow his rules. We may not like some of those rules, but if we don't follow them, the consequences are much worse.
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