Loving Yourself

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
      Passage: Psalm 96:1-9

         When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, the Pharisees thought they could trap Him with whatever He answered. Of course, His answer was perfect and He basically told them He could answer the question in two sentences and they come down to this - Love God/Love People. He told them if you get these two right, everything else will fall into place. Jesus quoted from Leviticus 19:18 where God was telling His people how to get along in relationships that are affected by our sin nature.

The capacity to do relationships God’s way begins with a love for God, but then in order to love people like God does, you have to love yourself. The sin nature causes this self love to have extremes of narcissism or low self-esteem. Both of those keep people from loving others, because both end up focused on the self either as the center of their own existence or with a poor opinion of being able to make a positive difference. God wants your view of yourself to be rooted in His view of you and His design for you. Loving yourself will enable you to focus on others and to be the best you can be for Him.

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)