As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
JOHN 13:34
Strengthening our spiritual core is not just for our benefit — it’s also for the benefit of others. Remember, God has called us to love him and to love others. But to obey Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, it is imperative that we actually love, value, and esteem ourselves.
So often, we find it difficult to love one another because we do not understand how to receive the love that God has shown us. We think we must somehow earn that love or make ourselves more perfect in order to receive it. Yet it was while we were still sinners that Christ loved us and that unconditional love is what he desires us to give to others.
Since it is impossible to offer what you do not have, we must first receive his love in order to give that love away. The truth is that God loves you so that you can love yourself in a healthy, godly way. And the natural outflow of loving yourself as God does is that you will love others likewise, with a love that only God can give you.
Try loving yourself today so that you can love others in the same way God loves you. Remember, there is a huge difference between loving ourselves as Jesus does and walking in arrogance and pride. One will enable us to love one another as Christ loved us; the other will destroy us.
Do you truly believe that Christ loves you unconditionally?
If not, does that hamper your ability to show his love to others?