"Jesus answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment.
The second most important commandment is like it:
Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
Matthew 22:37-39
Hello Girlfriends!
Have I told you lately how much I love you?
"Oh sure," you say, rolling your eyes. "She's only saying that because Jesus told her to "love your neighbor..."
Well, depending upon which neighbor you are, that could be true...ha ha, just kidding!
Well, depending upon which neighbor you are, that could be true...ha ha, just kidding!
Seriously, Girlfriends, I do love you, ALL OF YOU! God has placed that love in me. I must confess that the more I practice the first part of Jesus's command--Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind--then the second half gets easier: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Love yourself.
Did anyone sort of skip over that part of the command? Or did you not even pay attention to it, assuming that naturally everyone loves themselves? I'll be honest: Of the three "love" commands, I consciously focus upon Love the Lord and Love your neighbor. I don't give much thought to love yourself until either someone points out how vain or selfish I have been acting, or until I get totally drained and declare an "all about me, bubble bath and spa day"! At that point, loving yourself has taken on worldly aspects and can easily become sin, rather than an act of obedience and worship of our Lord. So how do we love ourselves in the way Jesus commands and not the way Satan desires? Furthermore, why is it even important? Shouldn't we give greater focus to the other two commands?
Love the Lord your God
When He gave the directives above, Jesus was answering a question: Which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind must come first, Jesus tells us. God is to be at the center of our being so that we can earnestly love others as we love ourselves. Why? Simple. Because God IS Love. Knowing Him is to know love.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
The love of God is deeper and more abundant than any one of us can fathom but that does not mean we cannot experience that love. Look no further than Jesus, who came and gave us a visible and tangible expression of the greatest love: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
The love of God is deeper and more abundant than any one of us can fathom but that does not mean we cannot experience that love. Look no further than Jesus, who came and gave us a visible and tangible expression of the greatest love: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16
Love your neighbor as you love yourself
Loving others seems like a no-brainer, but in reality can be a great challenge. Sometimes the reason is because we are out of alignment: God is not the first and premier relationship in our lives. When we are worshiping someone or something other than the Lord, those others can run interference or become an impediment rather than the blessing God intends.
However, I think the greatest challenge to loving our neighbors occurs because we have skipped completely over the condition attached to the commandment: love your neighbor as you love yourself. We simply do not love ourselves as God loves us. No wonder relationships are fraught with mistrust, harsh words, impatience, and unforgiveness. Just listen to your self-talk for a few hours and discover why. We can be our own worst critics and enemies.
Girlfriends, at least eight times in the Bible, God tells us to love others as yourself. When He gives us a picture of love in 1 Corinthians 13, He is laying out how He loves us, how we are to love ourselves, and how we are to love others. So, I ask, are you loving yourself in the manner God intends? Let's examine:
Love is patient; love is kind. Do you look in the mirror and think kind thoughts, or are you critical of your appearance? If you have prodded yourself into make some physical changes, are you patient, knowing change takes time, or do you break down in frustrated tears after only one or two weeks? It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Do you look around your place of employment or your church and berate yourself because you do not have the talent of so-and-so? Or if you are incredibly gifted, do you utilize your gift for God's glory or your own? It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. When you make mistakes, do you fly off the handle and beat yourself up over them for days, weeks, or even years? Are you unforgiving of your sins, keeping a running tally in your head, even when you know in your heart that God has forgiven them all? Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Are you honest or have you convinced yourself that lying on your taxes isn't really a big deal? That flirting with that guy at work is harmless even if you are married? That overspending at the mall won't really hurt the family budget? It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Have you set up safe boundaries in your relationships, or do you allow others to trample all over you? Do you seek God's will and then trust in your abilities, decisions, and judgement? Do you believe you can do all things through Christ? Do you give up easily, or do you encourage yourself with positive talk and God's promises? Love never fails. Do you know that by His love, you have eternal victory?
Ladies, you are the key component to exercising God's greatest command. I pray you will take time this week to reflect, looking at it from a different angle: Love yourself as God loves you so that you can love your neighbor. Answer the questions above; ask more of your own. Seek God's will; read more of your Bible to discover the vastness of love. More than anything, know that God desires for you to love yourself. And so do I!
Girlfriends, at least eight times in the Bible, God tells us to love others as yourself. When He gives us a picture of love in 1 Corinthians 13, He is laying out how He loves us, how we are to love ourselves, and how we are to love others. So, I ask, are you loving yourself in the manner God intends? Let's examine:
Love is patient; love is kind. Do you look in the mirror and think kind thoughts, or are you critical of your appearance? If you have prodded yourself into make some physical changes, are you patient, knowing change takes time, or do you break down in frustrated tears after only one or two weeks? It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Do you look around your place of employment or your church and berate yourself because you do not have the talent of so-and-so? Or if you are incredibly gifted, do you utilize your gift for God's glory or your own? It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. When you make mistakes, do you fly off the handle and beat yourself up over them for days, weeks, or even years? Are you unforgiving of your sins, keeping a running tally in your head, even when you know in your heart that God has forgiven them all? Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Are you honest or have you convinced yourself that lying on your taxes isn't really a big deal? That flirting with that guy at work is harmless even if you are married? That overspending at the mall won't really hurt the family budget? It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Have you set up safe boundaries in your relationships, or do you allow others to trample all over you? Do you seek God's will and then trust in your abilities, decisions, and judgement? Do you believe you can do all things through Christ? Do you give up easily, or do you encourage yourself with positive talk and God's promises? Love never fails. Do you know that by His love, you have eternal victory?
Ladies, you are the key component to exercising God's greatest command. I pray you will take time this week to reflect, looking at it from a different angle: Love yourself as God loves you so that you can love your neighbor. Answer the questions above; ask more of your own. Seek God's will; read more of your Bible to discover the vastness of love. More than anything, know that God desires for you to love yourself. And so do I!
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