“YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
Mark 12:31
We often read this verse and focus on one thing:
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR.
Be kind.
Be patient.
Be compassionate.
Be forgiving.
But recently I found myself stopping at two little words:
AS YOURSELF.
What if you don’t particularly like yourself, let alone love yourself?
What if the way you speak to yourself is harsh?
What if you constantly criticise yourself, rarely forgive yourself, and expect things from yourself that you would never expect from another person?
And what if, without even realising it, you begin treating others in the same way you have learned to treat yourself?
Maybe there is something here we sometimes overlook.
Jesus said:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Perhaps those words reveal something about the way love flows through our lives.
If your inner world has been filled with criticism, rejection, neglect or pain, sometimes love can be difficult to give simply because healthy love is something you have never learned to receive.
But notice what Jesus says immediately before this:
“You shall love the Lord your God…”
Love begins with God.
Our value isn’t created by our performance, achievements, appearance, usefulness or even our own opinion of ourselves.
Our value begins with the One who created us and loves us.
And perhaps healing begins when we stop arguing with God about whether we are worthy of His love and simply allow ourselves to receive it.
His grace begins changing the way we see ourselves.
We learn to speak to ourselves with a little less cruelty.
To give ourselves the patience we readily give someone else.
To acknowledge our failures without believing they define us.
To receive forgiveness instead of continually punishing ourselves for something God has already forgiven.
And something beautiful begins to happen.
THE LOVE WE RECEIVE FROM GOD BEGINS TO CHANGE THE LOVE WE GIVE TO OTHERS.
We become more patient because we have experienced His patience.
More forgiving because we know what it means to be forgiven.
More compassionate because we have encountered His compassion.
More gracious because grace has met us in our own broken places.
Maybe loving your neighbour as yourself isn’t about becoming self-centred.
Maybe it is about allowing God’s love to heal the way you see yourself so deeply that His love begins overflowing into the way you see everyone else.
Because ultimately, we cannot manufacture the kind of love Jesus describes.
“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
Love God.
Receive His love.
Let His love change the way you see yourself.
And then let that same love overflow to your neighbour.
Mark 12:31
We often read this verse and focus on one thing:
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR.
Be kind.
Be patient.
Be compassionate.
Be forgiving.
But recently I found myself stopping at two little words:
AS YOURSELF.
What if you don’t particularly like yourself, let alone love yourself?
What if the way you speak to yourself is harsh?
What if you constantly criticise yourself, rarely forgive yourself, and expect things from yourself that you would never expect from another person?
And what if, without even realising it, you begin treating others in the same way you have learned to treat yourself?
Maybe there is something here we sometimes overlook.
Jesus said:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Perhaps those words reveal something about the way love flows through our lives.
If your inner world has been filled with criticism, rejection, neglect or pain, sometimes love can be difficult to give simply because healthy love is something you have never learned to receive.
But notice what Jesus says immediately before this:
“You shall love the Lord your God…”
Love begins with God.
Our value isn’t created by our performance, achievements, appearance, usefulness or even our own opinion of ourselves.
Our value begins with the One who created us and loves us.
And perhaps healing begins when we stop arguing with God about whether we are worthy of His love and simply allow ourselves to receive it.
His grace begins changing the way we see ourselves.
We learn to speak to ourselves with a little less cruelty.
To give ourselves the patience we readily give someone else.
To acknowledge our failures without believing they define us.
To receive forgiveness instead of continually punishing ourselves for something God has already forgiven.
And something beautiful begins to happen.
THE LOVE WE RECEIVE FROM GOD BEGINS TO CHANGE THE LOVE WE GIVE TO OTHERS.
We become more patient because we have experienced His patience.
More forgiving because we know what it means to be forgiven.
More compassionate because we have encountered His compassion.
More gracious because grace has met us in our own broken places.
Maybe loving your neighbour as yourself isn’t about becoming self-centred.
Maybe it is about allowing God’s love to heal the way you see yourself so deeply that His love begins overflowing into the way you see everyone else.
Because ultimately, we cannot manufacture the kind of love Jesus describes.
“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
Love God.
Receive His love.
Let His love change the way you see yourself.
And then let that same love overflow to your neighbour.
“YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
Mark 12:31
We often read this verse and focus on one thing:
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR.
Be kind.
Be patient.
Be compassionate.
Be forgiving.
But recently I found myself stopping at two little words:
AS YOURSELF.
What if you don’t particularly like yourself, let alone love yourself?
What if the way you speak to yourself is harsh?
What if you constantly criticise yourself, rarely forgive yourself, and expect things from yourself that you would never expect from another person?
And what if, without even realising it, you begin treating others in the same way you have learned to treat yourself?
Maybe there is something here we sometimes overlook.
Jesus said:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Perhaps those words reveal something about the way love flows through our lives.
If your inner world has been filled with criticism, rejection, neglect or pain, sometimes love can be difficult to give simply because healthy love is something you have never learned to receive.
But notice what Jesus says immediately before this:
“You shall love the Lord your God…”
Love begins with God.
Our value isn’t created by our performance, achievements, appearance, usefulness or even our own opinion of ourselves.
Our value begins with the One who created us and loves us.
And perhaps healing begins when we stop arguing with God about whether we are worthy of His love and simply allow ourselves to receive it.
His grace begins changing the way we see ourselves.
We learn to speak to ourselves with a little less cruelty.
To give ourselves the patience we readily give someone else.
To acknowledge our failures without believing they define us.
To receive forgiveness instead of continually punishing ourselves for something God has already forgiven.
And something beautiful begins to happen.
THE LOVE WE RECEIVE FROM GOD BEGINS TO CHANGE THE LOVE WE GIVE TO OTHERS.
We become more patient because we have experienced His patience.
More forgiving because we know what it means to be forgiven.
More compassionate because we have encountered His compassion.
More gracious because grace has met us in our own broken places.
Maybe loving your neighbour as yourself isn’t about becoming self-centred.
Maybe it is about allowing God’s love to heal the way you see yourself so deeply that His love begins overflowing into the way you see everyone else.
Because ultimately, we cannot manufacture the kind of love Jesus describes.
“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
Love God.
Receive His love.
Let His love change the way you see yourself.
And then let that same love overflow to your neighbour.
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