The second commandment in the New Testament says, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31 NIV). Let us love ourselves first in order to love others.
Prior to an airplane taking off, the flight attendant reminds us that in the event of an emergency to first put on our oxygen mask before we assist others. Why do the airlines remind us to help ourselves first?
Another example to show this is through using our bank account. Money is first deposited in our account before writing good checks. Yet another way to put this: we can only jump in after a swimmer to rescue them if we are capable swimmers ourselves. First, our cup shall be full before it runneth over. Let us fill our cup with love.
This demonstrates that the latter part of God’s second commandment, “as you love yourself,” is mandatory before we can fulfill the first part of the commandment. Are we loving ourselves so that our neighbors can be blessed?
When I shared this concept with my sister, she humorously responded by saying, “Oh, my poor neighbor. I am so busy taking care of everyone else, 1 spend little time loving myself.”
How about the rest of us? Are we taking enough time and are we making a continual effort to truly love ourselves? We can only love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. Let us expand the definition of neighbor to every person in our life, including our relatives, friends, and everyone we encounter throughout the day.
We are our own most critical judges. Instead, let us be our biggest fans. We have to cheer for ourselves. “Go, me! Go, me!” Remember, we are exactly where we are meant to be in every moment.
A very helpful exercise is to stand in front of our mirror each day and tell ourselves such things as: “I love you. I am beautiful / handsome. I am awesome. I am a genius. I am happy. I am healthy. I live in a friendly world. I create great things. I am wealthy. I am fulfilled. I am perfect. God loves me.”
Let us always smile at ourselves, be kind to ourselves, accept what is, and joyfully own our physical body! Let us be comfortable with ourselves. Let us feel good about ourselves. Let us appreciate ourselves. Let us know our value. Let us allow ourselves to be worthy of His Heavenly Kingdom.
God made us worthy. We deserve everything we desire. Our desires desire us. Everyone is perfect all the time. We are one humanity. God’s almighty Holy Spirit within us loves us. The Holy Spirit in us loves all. Love is who we are — anything less is an illusion.
Let us be our own cheerleader. Practice being happy and content alone with ourselves because there is only me and my God in my hall of mirrors — what I send out is reflected back to me. That is how we came into this world and how we will go out.
If you desire encouragement, tell yourself how great you are. Ask others to remind you of your greatness. You can also use our Receive Joy meditations, affirmations, and inspirations found in Receive Joy’s book Ask And You Shall Receive. We also recorded a meditation in all positive words to empower you further.
Since we have total control over our emotional choices, we shall understand first that love is our option. Believing and having faith in ourselves is a choice. Whatever stands in front of us in our lives, we always have choices because we always have control over our actions, reactions, and the meaning we attach to the situations.
The more we love ourselves, the friendlier our world becomes. Let us love ourselves with grace!