P.S.L - Week 64 - Love Yourself?

Many of us have heard of the two commands that Jesus had said comprises all commandments. If you're not familiar with it, the two commands that covers everything is to first love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30, 31). These two commands seem self-explanatory. We all know we are to love God with all that we have within us. We also know that we need to love others. But the part that gets some people is that little word "as". Some may say, "If I don't love myself, how can I love others?" Some also question, "Who is my neighbor?"

The first question, "Can you love someone if you don't love yourself?" First no matter what, we ALL love ourselves. Why do I say this? Well, we all take care of ourselves. We feed ourselves, we bathe ourselves, we shelter ourselves, we protect ourselves from being injured. The degree in which we do this is dependent on our situations. For example, if we are hungry, we will try to find some type of food to satisfy that hunger. It doesn't have a fine course meal, it could be a piece of bread. As for shelter, we can shelter ourselves in our homes or if we're homeless, we will sleep under a bridge or box. No matter the status we're in, we do things that show that we love ourselves. The same manner that we show love to ourselves, we need to show love to those who are in need.

The second question, "Who's my neighbor?", the answer is anyone who is in need. That could be ANYONE. It doesn't matter the color of their skin, their religious beliefs, their sexual orientations, their political party, no matter what, they are our neighbor. If that neighbor has a need, we are to show love and fill it as we are able and let God use us.

In conclusion, do you love yourself? Of course you do. You may not like certain aspects of yourself, but it's not about liking yourself, but loving yourself. Today and the rest of this week, month, year, let us love others and meet their needs as God directs us because we love ourselves. Have a blessed week!