Mark 12:30-31 NKJV
“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.”
I only got to know that it was possible not to love oneself when I became a born again Christian. My new birth afforded me the opportunity to see and make scriptural discoveries such as our text for today. We often see the fact that God wants us to love Him and then to love our neighbours, without necessarily observing that we are supposed to love ourselves as well. The word says to love your neighbour as yourself; implying that you must first love yourself.
Jesus quietly made an argument that many people have not considered. He clearly made the point that we can only love our neighbours the way we love ourselves. Which means mistreatment of neighbours is indicative of the fact that we do not love ourselves.
This is very true. When people find it hard to forgive others, it is because they hardly forgive themselves in the first place, and when people are intolerant and irritated by people, it is also because they can hardly stand themselves as well.
Here are a few tips on how to love yourself.
i. Love God: It is the love relationship between you and God that trickles down to the way you treat people. Anyone who is not capable of loving God is not capable of loving people.
ii. Spend a lot of time with yourself: Learn to be alone with yourself, you don't have to be in the company of people all the time. People who spend a lot of time by themselves make a lot of discoveries about who they really are.
iii. Invest in yourself: Invest time, knowledge and even money in yourself. Look at yourself regularly in the mirror and admire yourself. It is good to admonish and encourage yourself.
iv. Take care of yourself: Eat well and eat right. Exercise regularly and always look good and important.
Grace to love yourself in Jesus Name.
Assignment/Prayer
-Review those four points and make personal notes of them.
-Make them your prayer points today.
-Share this knowledge with a friend - The more you share it, the more it will stick to you.
-Share it in your next house fellowship meeting.
Nugget
It is the love relationship between you and God that trickles down to the way you treat people. So, inability to love God, is incapacitation to loving people.
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