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Love others... as yourself?
If you were to rank the relationships in your life from the most important to the least important, how would your list look? Before continuing on in today’s devotional, why don’t you take a minute and write down your list?
Now look at your list. Is “myself” included? Hopefully it is! Hopefully it’s second only to God, because whether you believe it or not, you are your most important human relationship!
When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus responded by saying 1) love God, and 2) love your neighbor; however, if we stop there, we pass over the key to loving our neighbor. According to Jesus, the key to loving our neighbor is first loving ourselves.
Now, there’s a wrong way and a right way to love yourself. You know what the wrong way is… If you woke up today, looked in the mirror and told yourself how blessed the world is to get to see you today, you’re loving yourself the wrong way; however, if you woke up today, looked in the mirror, and made a decision to see yourself as God sees you, you’re loving yourself the right way.
Why is it vital for Christians to love themselves? Well, one of our main purposes for existing is to enjoy relationship with God and to bring others along with us in doing so, but how are we supposed to share the love of God with others if it hasn’t even caused us to love ourselves? That’s not a good witness to a world that we believe needs Jesus!
We’ve all heard it said that love is a choice, and that is certainly true, and it is just as true for loving others as it is for yourself. In fact, it’s the most important choice you can make today because the success of all of your other relationships depends on it! We must all remember, though, that love isn’t proud; we don’t love ourselves to think higher of ourselves than others. Instead, we love ourselves to the degree that God does. So, before you get on with your day, here’s three things you might need to be reminded of:
1. God loves you and heaven is cheering for you today.
2. You are forgiven.
3. God is calling you to a high standard today because He loves you and wants the best for you.
What are three other things God is saying to you in order to remind you to love yourself?
About this Plan
Would you agree that a godly relationship is rare? We often hear about the need for our romantic relationships to be godly, but have you ever thought about whether or not all of your relationships are godly? As Christ followers, we're called to walk in His example. This week, we will explore some relationships that don't get enough attention, and how to strive for godliness in each of them.
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