LOVE YOURSELF

 

Maybe we all have heard the phrase, “you have to love yourself first.” If that is so, why do we often do things to hurt ourselves? Loving oneself could mean something different to many people. A person cannot give others something they did not first possess themselves. When I talk about self-love, I am not talking about being selfish. I do not believe a selfish person understands the meaning of love. I will share what it means to love oneself from a personal perspective.

Loving myself starts with appreciating the value God places on my life. The scriptures tell me that I was fearfully and wonderfully made, that God knew me before I was born. I was made in the image of God, and my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 139:13-14; Genesis 1:27; 1 Corinthians 6:19). This is the foundation on which I build a love for myself. We love because God first loved us. Loving myself means treating myself with compassion. It is forgiving myself when I fail or miss the mark and giving myself permission to rise and keep moving forward instead of beating up on myself with harsh words of judgment and criticism. Loving myself is setting boundaries that prevent others, through their words or actions, from spilling their trash on me. It is caring for my health and nurturing self-care. It is celebrating my uniqueness and not comparing myself to others. Loving myself is to believe that my life has a purpose. God says that He has plans for me and that they are good ones (Jeremiah 29:11). These are all the things we can then pass on to others in love after we possess them.

I hope I have inspired you to become aware of what you think and say about yourself. Please leave a comment.