God says you are worthy of love
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
— Mark 12:30-31
I opened our five-part message on love by looking at the greatest commandment: to love God.
Fittingly, we’ll be looking at the second greatest commandment for part two of this message.
Normally, if asked, most people will say the two greatest commandments given by Christ are the two goals of loving God and loving our neighbor. In reality, the second commandment gives us two instructions: to love your neighbor and to love yourself. Indeed, the amount of love we give to our neighbor is supposed to be equal to the amount of love we give to ourselves.
This can seem strange as often we equate loving the self with pride, and selfishness. Though godly love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13, is a love where we unselfishly seek what is best for the one we love. To love God, our children, or our spouses requires us to sacrifice selfish desires for the sake of brining happiness to the one we love.
The same should be true for how we treat ourselves.
Those familiar with foster care training have probably heard the term “self-care” before. This term is taught to ensure foster parents remember to love and care for their needs while also caring for the child.
Examples of self-care can include getting up early to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee before the day begins, taking time for a relaxing bath, or allowing yourself the opportunity to read a favorite book. In our fast-paced world it is far too easy for us to forget about our own needs while trying to care for those around us.
Inevitably, as we fail to love ourselves our ability to love others becomes strained as fatigue and bitterness creep in and hinder our efforts.
Most tragically, our modern materialistic views cause us to easily forget to care for our souls. My encouragement for you this week is to remember to love yourself as Christ commanded.
Love yourself enough to pray, study God’s word, and have some godly fellowship.
Love yourself enough to allow yourself to enjoy rest in Christ, and to make choices that make your life truly better.
Most importantly, remember that God says you’re worthy of love and so should you.
