How to Love Yourself

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about “loving self.” Some say we need to do that because many of us are failing to truly love ourselves. Some say it’s a given that we love ourselves and that loving ourselves should not be our focus.

I think both “camps” have something valid to say, but I’d like to take the good from both and extend it a bit further …

I believe we need to love ourselves, but not through the conduit of self-love.

I agree that we take care of ourselves, and that’s evidence of a kind of self-love or self-preservation. However, some do not take care of themselves. Some become so troubled and self-rejecting that they injure themselves through various means like cutting, disordered eating, abusing drugs, and suicide, etc. Some simply tear themselves down with negative self-talk and lies they’ve believed over the years.

Are these examples an indication of self-hatred or self-rejection? Perhaps.

Then there’s the idea that we need to look to ourselves to gain love of self. I think that idea is misguided at its best.

I believe we need to love ourselves through loving God.

We cannot conjure up enough positive feelings about ourselves to override the sins we’ve committed or the sins that have been committed against us.

To truly love ourselves is an act of God’s grace.

As we look to Christ and learn how He first loved us, even as we were and are still sinners, we find true love and acceptance of ourselves through Him.

• Looking to ourselves for love is like going the wrong way on a highway. We will get creamed!
• Looking to others to fill that void and affirm our worth is like drinking from a cup with a leak. We’re always left wanting more.
• Looking to God to meet this important need fills us up to overflowing, and the cup never runs dry!
• Look to Him to love Him, and you’ll feel His love filling up the cracks in your view of self.

Look to Him to see yourself through His eyes, and that’s where you’ll find you are part of a true love story!

What do you think? Is loving ourselves important? Why or why not?

What are some ways you’ve gained more “self-love” as you’ve looked to Christ to fill that void?