Do you love yourself?
While listening to a podcast earlier today, I was presented with this question.
I'd honestly never before thought about it that deeply until today. I don't recall it being taught in the communities in which I was involved most of my life. In recent years, I've heard it mentioned and even mentioned it myself, but I don't think I've really given it the type of consideration it needed.
I've heard it taught often about ways to learn to accept yourself as you are/were created to be or as God sees you, but if you really think about it, if we accept ourselves and see ourselves as God sees us, then won't we find the epitome of true love in that?
I considered for a second why this isn't taught more often. The only thing I could think of was that maybe there is a fear of becoming conceited or a concern that we might say something that encourages others to become egotistical and self-absorbed, but that has nothing to do with true love. Just take a look at what true love is:
"Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It does not dishonor other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up."
- I Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIrV)
Some would argue that God (or the Bible) never directly states that we should love ourselves. Maybe not in those exact words, but scripture is riddled with verses about love all throughout it. Most of those talk about how God loves us. Why would God love us but require something different from us? I don't believe He does. There are also multiple mentions of how we should love others as ourselves. Those verses literally state the assumption that we should or would naturally love ourselves. Certainly, we wouldn't be asked to love someone in a way that was lacking, right?
So today, as my mind was racing through all these thoughts and recalling verses I've learned about love, I decided to put this into practice for a minute. I went to the mirror and looked myself in the eye and said, "I love you." It felt weird. BUT I did it again, and again until it started to feel like I was saying it to one of my closest friends or family members.
You should try it. I'm curious how it might impact you.
I think I'm going to continue to practice it until it feels just right.
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