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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Is It Biblical to Love Yourself?



The moment we hear or read anyone suggest that we need to love ourselves, most of us as Christians feel uncomfortable. Many have heard that loving yourself is the opposite of loving God. One time a college student told me that if he loved God more he would not keep committing the same habitual sin over and over. Inside his thinking was the idea that he actually loved himself too much and did not love God enough.
When Jesus was asked by the religious leaders of His day what the greatest commandment was, He responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul with all you mind and with all your strength." He followed with the second greatest commandment by quoting Leviticus 18:19, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Please read those scriptures again and answer this question. How many people are we instructed to love? For years, I would have answered "Two. God and others". But that is incorrect. What we see is that we are to love: 1) God above all and with all; 2) Love our neighbor; and 3) Love ourselves. There is a proper love of yourself that our God not only sanctions but expects of us. So how do we love ourselves in a way that is not self-centered, self-indulgent, and self-serving?
God tells us in 1 John 4:19 that we love Him because He first loved us. Paul prays for the Ephesians a great prayer that I pray for my family, my staff and all whom we minister to. The latter part of the prayer tells us that as God answers this prayer, we will "be rooted and grounded" in God's love for us. (Ephesians 3:17)
We can only truly love God when we are at rest in His love for us rather than believing that we must earn His love through obedience. We can only truly love others when we Biblically love ourselves. We can only truly love ourselves when that love is rooted in God's love for us. When our love for ourself is rooted in someone else or something else, it is sinful. When our love for ourself is rooted in God's love He is delighted!
We who are in Christ can love ourselves because God loves us with no strings attached. If you instead loath yourself, you do not really believe in His love for you!
I have personally found great joy and peace in praying the following prayer to my Father often. "Father because you love me, I love me." How about you? Would you be willing to pray that prayer each day as part of your communion with God?
Until next time remenber, He loves us.

Mark Maulding
President and Founder
GraceLifeInternational.com 

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