Skunks are cute but not always pleasant to be around!
This is the 4th of 5 articles in our series of fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Second Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37-39.
Remember these3 verses are not the ‘Great Suggestions’ but the Greatest and Second Great Commandments. Did Jesus really mean for us to love God, others, and self the way He loves us? I know He did when He said it 2000 years ago and still means it today. (John 13:34-35)
Matthew 22: 39 states, “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself”.
What if it is true that we love others as we love ourselves? Or said another way, what if I don’t really love myself as God designed? Consequently, what if that led me to love others with the same watered-down version of the real love God offers. We can have a right view of others if we have a right, God-directed view of ourselves as the foundation. Truly, the ultimate foundation of all loves in our life is the strong, unconditional love of God! 1 John 4:19 – We love because He first loved us.
If you love yourself selfishly (not what God has in mind), you do what you feel like and when you feel like it. That isn’t true love but true self-hatred. You treat your body any old way that feels, tastes, or looks good and are more concerned about your own self-interest than the needs or interests of others. This is not self-love but self-loathing. The choices we make in this realm of selfishness are almost always self-destructive – initially or eventually. Choose any habit that had its root in the soil of our own feelings or selfish interest: overeating, under-eating, sleeping too much or staying up all night, chemical addictions, drunkenness, pornography, immorality, over use of internet, inordinate time spent in social media, etc. You get the idea, right? These things take their toll on our life and can lead to suffering personally and in our closest relationships.
So, truly loving yourself means that you will do what God wants done in the crucial areas of life. No one loves us more than Jesus does and consequently it may be good to ask: “What Would Jesus Do?” I no longer have the WWJD bracelet or wrist band, but it isn’t that hard to remember: WWJD. How would Jesus want me to treat my body – respectfully or disrespectfully? What would Jesus want in my mind – truth or lies? What would Jesus want me to do about eternity – trust Him and have true hope or conform to the cultural lifestyles and have no hope at all?
So, without further ado, please consider this question: Do you really love you in a way that illustrates God’s definition of love. When you and I truly love our own lives well and submit to God’s definition, we can better love and appreciate the lives of others, and live in loving relationship with the God Who loved us first, best, and always