Do You Love Yourself?

“Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one]; 5 and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 CJB

But Yeshua said to him, “What is written in the Torah? How do you read it?” He answered, “You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your understanding; and your neighbor as yourself.” “That’s the right answer,” Yeshua said. “Do this, and you will have life.”

Luke 10:26-28 CJB

These verses make it clear that our first priority in LIFE must be LOVING GOD with ALL we have. We are to give HIM everything. He needs to be part of every area of our life.

We are also asked to, “Love our neighbor AS YOURSELF.” I bold the last part because too many people miss this. God REQUIRES us to love ourselves. Not with a prideful and arrogant love. But, we must be confident in WHO HE created us to be.

If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot love our neighbor. If we carry jealousy, anger, bitterness within us, we are not loving ourselves, and we cannot love our neighbor.

How do we learn to love ourselves? By listening to the voice of God. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. The Holy Spirit is our Guide. When we allow Him to LOVE US and we receive the love HE gives us, then we can love ourselves.

We must become broken before Him. We must understand that HE created us and HE sees us as GOOD. There are so many levels to this understanding. All I can think of is:

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell

It goes beyond the highest star

And reaches to the lowest hell

The guilty pair, bowed down with care

God gave His Son to win

His erring child He reconciled

And pardoned from his sin

Could we with ink the ocean fill

And were the skies of parchment made

Were every stalk on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trade

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky

O love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure

The saints' and angels' song

I plead with all of my friends to stop and think about HIS LOVE for you. When you do, realize that because of that GREAT LOVE, you CAN LOVE YOURSELF. YOU are WORTHY to be called a CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD.

When you know and understand that love, than you can truly love others. You can give love without receiving anything in return. You don’t have to expect anything from anyone. You just LOVE because HE LOVES YOU. That, my friends, is LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANT.

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