“Love your neighbor as yourself.” —Mark 12:31
How often have we heard someone say, “I’ve never liked myself,” or “She just can’t love herself”? According to Scripture, we do love ourselves—immensely. When Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, He is saying we need to give others the same attention and care we naturally give ourselves.
If I get a toothache, I look for a way to get rid of it. If I didn’t “love myself,” I would ignore the pain. But when someone else has a toothache, it’s easy to be indifferent. We naturally love ourselves; we don’t naturally love others.
The same point is made in Ephesians, where Paul says husbands are to “love their wives as [they instinctively love] their own bodies. . . . For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it” (5:28–29).
According to God’s Word, we were created in the image of God, He loves us, and we are precious to Him. However, we don’t bestow that worth on ourselves. Jesus taught that it is in losing our lives that we find our lives.
------------------
Lies Women Believe ©2001 Nancy Leigh DeMoss ©Revived Hearts Foundation
Scripture is taken from the CSB.
Make it Personal
Ask God to give you opportunities today to love your neighbor as yourself . . . and to show you practical ways to do it.