In honor of Valentine's Day.
It's easy to hear that we need to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor, But why do we so often miss the in between step?In fact, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27, emphasis added) implies a very important concept: we must first have a healthy, appropriate love of self. To fail to do so results in negative relationships, burnout and resentment towards others.
Because God chose to love us first, we can truly love and accept who we are and who we have been created to be. The Bible gives us an awesome definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. This is the love passage that we hear in weddings or in sermons teaching on loving others. What if we were to consider loving ourselves by this definition? Referring to 1 Corinthians 13, author Mike Mason asked, "Do you love yourself? Are you patient and gentle and kind with yourself? Do you easily let go of you mistakes and wrongs, or do you keep a strict record and punish yourself severely? Do you trust yourself enough to persevere always? Or are you continually doubting, berating, condemning yourself?"
As you read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, reflect on how well you apply each principle to loving yourself.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Are you content with yourself, considerate to your needs and humble enough to admit that you are what you are, which God calls good?
I found this all very convicting. I struggle with this daily. It helped me. I hope it helps some of you! Love you all very much and... Happy Valentine's Day!
Because God chose to love us first, we can truly love and accept who we are and who we have been created to be. The Bible gives us an awesome definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. This is the love passage that we hear in weddings or in sermons teaching on loving others. What if we were to consider loving ourselves by this definition? Referring to 1 Corinthians 13, author Mike Mason asked, "Do you love yourself? Are you patient and gentle and kind with yourself? Do you easily let go of you mistakes and wrongs, or do you keep a strict record and punish yourself severely? Do you trust yourself enough to persevere always? Or are you continually doubting, berating, condemning yourself?"
As you read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, reflect on how well you apply each principle to loving yourself.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Are you content with yourself, considerate to your needs and humble enough to admit that you are what you are, which God calls good?
I found this all very convicting. I struggle with this daily. It helped me. I hope it helps some of you! Love you all very much and... Happy Valentine's Day!
posted by Whitney @ 10:33 AM
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