𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙈𝙮 𝙉𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝘾𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙈𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛

“𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘨? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘻? 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘱! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵?”

Would you speak these words to someone you love? These are just some of the awful things I have said to myself. Have you ever struggled with negative self talk, or even self hatred? I’ve got an experiment for you. Close your eyes and picture yourself as the little child you once were. You could even grab an old photo if you have one, or picture your own child. Now say some of the hurtful things you’ve said to yourself to that small child…

Imagining saying this to my young self brought me to tears, and was a real wakeup call.

In Matthew 22:39 Jesus says to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I always read this with an emphasis on the ‘love your neighbor’ part of this command. I think we assume the ‘loving yourself’ is a given. But, what if you don’t love yourself? I heard a talk that Abi Stumvoll did on loving yourself a few years ago, and it completely wrecked me. She put an emphasis on the latter part of the command. Then the Holy Spirit brought a thought to mind, “how can I love my neighbor if I can’t even love myself?” The command is to love your neighbor 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. Once we learn to love ourselves as God does, then it’s easier for us to understand how to really love others, and what that should look like.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧?

You are an 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 masterpiece, created by the same creator of the stars, ocean and mountains!!! 1 Timothy 4:4 tells us that “𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.” Guess what. You were created by God too! Psalm 139:13 says that He “𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘣!”

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦?

Well, the Bible has a LOT to say about love. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8 God IS love! Love comes from God. He created us to love us, and He created LOVE! Paul also gives it to us straight in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 what love should look like. Now, you’ve probably heard this at a wedding or two, but please pay super close attention to the words and read them with fresh eyes, as if for the first time.

“𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴.”

Can we say we do this with ourselves, and others?? It’s not easy, but definitely something we should be striving for. Keep this in mind the next time you’re faced with a comment that leaves you feeling less than… then go and 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨… 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14