Loving Others as Our Self

Jesus made a point of telling us to love others as we love our self. Most of us despise our self, have grudges and disappointments and unforgiveness toward our self. We do not love our self at all (Mark 12:30-31).

Therefore, how can we truly love anyone else? We compare our self to worldly standards and find our self lacking. We listen to significant others in our life and adopt their opinion of us, even if it is negative.

We try all of our life to earn the unconditional love, respect, worth and affirmation we so desperately need. We sell our self short and give up on our self. We feel useless, hopeless, helpless and unlovable.

We are not powerful enough, rich enough, adorable enough, smart enough, talented enough, or attractive enough; we are not enough. We see our self through the eyes of others and we feel disappointed and ashamed.

However, God wants us to see our self through His eyes - as a person He cares about so much that He gave His life for us. He wants us to love our self as He loves us, and then to love others as we love our self.

We can start by accepting our self as He accepts us, just the way we are. We can make better, healthier, wiser and more nurturing choices. We can speak only kind, loving words to and about our self and others.

We can take care of our body, soul and spirit. We can accept our feelings and seek God to find resolutions for our negative feelings and unresolved conflicts. We can judge our self only through the eyes of God, not the eyes of the world.

We can stop using addictions, people, vocation and talents to make us feel better about our self. We can stop abandoning our self and taking our self and others for granted. We can stay in touch with who we are, what we need and how God is leading us all throughout our day.

Prayer:

Father God, enlighten the eyes of our understanding to see our self as You see us: as Your adopted children, co-heirs with Christ of Your entire Kingdom. Remind us to pay attention to our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental needs and to seek You on how to fulfill them.

Help us to accept our feelings and circumstances, even the negative ones, as Your tool in our life to bring us closer to total surrender to Your will and to keep us from depending on our human resources and understanding. Give us Your peace and joy as our strength. Remind us that without You we are nothing; but with You, all things are possible if we simply believe (John 15:5; Mark 9:23).

Thought for the Day:

Take the time throughout the day for a personal physical, mental, emotional and spiritual inventory; meet your needs or ask God to meet them; and then give yourself time to renew Your strength in the Lord and to rise up on wings like eagles. - Isaiah 40:31

Many thanks to Matt Milligan for the use of his photo.

Rejecting God's Truth

One problem with human beings is that we put way too much emphasis on understanding everything. If we cannot comprehend it with our human reasoning, we reject it.

We are the created beings; and God is the Creator. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are far beyond our ability to comprehend Him from our human perspective (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God's love for us, regardless of our religion, nationality, color and gender is unconditional. Yet, so many refuse to surrender their life to His loving kindness and grace.

It is through the riches of God's grace that we receive forgiveness for our sins. There is nothing we can do to buy, earn or to obtain His forgiveness (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We simply humble our self and receive forgiveness as a gift through faith in Christ (John 3:16-18). We also receive a place in God's family and we are co-heirs with Christ for eternity (Romans 8:17).

As Christians, God calls us to submit to and pray for our governing authorities so that it may be well with us (1 Peter 2:18-21; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). We truly prosper in this world, not by our hard work, but by our submission to God's Spirit.

We do not evaluate our self by the world's standards, nor do we live according to the example of those on this earth. We gain our self-esteem from God's Word and Christ in us.

Prayer:

Father God, we ask You to grant us the wisdom to accept Your Word as our standard for our faith and our lifestyle. Work a submissive attitude into our soul, so that we can accept Your Truth at face value, rather than having to understand it before we accept it.

Teach us what it means to live a life of faith in Your faithfulness. Thank You so much for the sacrifice of Christ for us all. Give us a grateful heart and a new song on our lips (Psalm 40:3), so that we can praise You all the days of our life.

Thought for the Day:
If we truly want God's blessings in our life, we can submit to the principles of His Kingdom and receive His righteousness, peace and joy in return. - Romans 14:17

Pointless Rebellion

Some people refuse to adhere to the traditions of our society (Romans 13: 1-14; Hebrews 13:17). They buck the system and rebel against human and Biblical rules and regulations. Therefore, God cannot bless them (Isaiah 1:20).

These people actually yearn for approval, but since their basics instincts are not well received, they decide to go the other way and live in defiance and revolt in every area of life.

Some even become a thorn in the side of society and often end up in prison. The rebel really wants to comply and gain approval; but since they do not measure up, they grow bitter and hate everyone, even their own self.

God's standards are higher than the system of this world; yet, many of our society's rules are patterned after Biblical truth (1 Peter 2:18-21; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). 

The nonconformist views God and the government as rule-makers, which do not accept or validate who they truly are inside.

If rebels would surrender their lack of self-esteem to God, they would find acceptance in His family. God creates a clean heart in us and renews His Spirit within us (Psalm 51:10).

At some point, we all start to realize the futility of attempting to control our own life. The alternative is to trust in God's plan for us (Ephesians 2:10), and to walk in the Spirit through every issue we face (Galatians 5:15-25).

Even if things do not progress as we think they should, if there is an apparent setback or imperfection in our life, God's love helps us to retain our faith in His faithfulness.

Prayer:

Father God, a rebel in this world is also rebelling against You. They want their body, emotions, thoughts and goals to be accepted by those who are supposed to love them, regardless of their behavior.

This attitude stems from pride. You resist the proud, but You exalt the humble (James 4:6). Please teach our rebellious loved ones to call on Your Spirit, to humble their pride, to submit to Your calling on their life and to surrender control of their life over to you.

Thought for the Day:

When we consent to God's will and obey His Word, He proves that He cares for all of our needs. 

- Isaiah 1:19; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22