Leviticus
19:18 “You shall not take
vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall
love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”
I rode up to Bass Lake , California
Romans
13:8-10 “Let no debt remain
outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves
others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not
commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not
covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one
command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a
neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
We live in a dog-eat-dog world
of negative and insulting false criticism and comparisons that fosters guilt. Even
when we give those guilty feelings (true or false) to God, we tend to put the
past behind us in a little red wagon that we pull behind, so that we can stop
and pull those old feeling back out. When you bury the hatchet, you are not
supposed to leave the handle sticking out of the ground for future use. Satan (the
Accuser) furthers this guilt-trip by reminding us of the sinfulness of sin and
our responsibility for it, with the intention of destroying us by hating
ourselves and not turning to the Lord.
Pastor Herk suggests
praying and asking for forgiveness to the God of Forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness. Sin breaks our relationship, but forgiveness
through Christ restores our relationship with God in reconciliation back to an
upright position.
- Love God, love others and loving yourself properly
begins at home and recognizing God’s love to us in Christ.
- Forgive yourself as God does. Praise Father God
for His mercy. love, grace and forgiveness.
- Learn from the past, but look forward and tell
others to do the same.
- Evaluate yourself regularly to God’s standards
and truth.
- Accept uniqueness in yourself and others – Do not
be anxious.
- Discipline yourself disciple – Student and
Follower of Jesus.
- Dedicate yourself with true devotion to the
highest - God’s best.
- Fulfill God’s Will
- Give to ministries and get involved in God’s
work here today.
- Internalize God’s Word and use it daily in
your personal walk with the Lord in the Spirit.
Matthew
22:35-39 “One of them, an expert
in the law, tested him with this Question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus
replied: “‘Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’
Pastor Herk explained that
God made you and I, but He is not finished with us yet. Metaphorically, we are
still on His easel being painted into a “Masterpiece.” Literally, this side of
eternity, we are a work in progress and objects of our Creator’s supreme
concern. Sovereign God, our Maker, our audience of One, sees everything that we
write in our book of life. Realize your own personal worth; if you or I were
the only Sinner on earth, God would have still sent His Son Jesus Christ to die
for us anyway. Oh, He did. Does it get any more personal than that? We have our
own personal Savior and Lord, who, out of pure love for us, died for our sins,
so that we would be forgiveness. That’s how much you are worth, so love
yourself.
1
Corinthians 13:12-13 “For now we see only a
reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know
in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And
now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the
greatest of these is love.’
In Christ, Brian
4 comments:
Hi Todd. While I have read the passage above many times, I have never reflected on the part, "as yourself." I sometimes get the feeling that the world expects us love others but not ourselves, that is for us Christians. Great post and God bless.
Ken
Thank you for the great point Ken. We know that God hates "Pride" because it is against God's character and nature. The sin of pride is a form of idolatry towards self, so we try to avoid it like the plague it is. But there is a healthy and balanced "love of self" that is not only good, but is right in the eyes of the Lord, as evidenced in this Commandment. Sometimes, we try to avoid "pride" so much that we go too far and deny the truth of love your neighbor "as yourself" in order to not cross the line ... to our detriment and disadvantage. That is not what the Lord intended in our "life to the full" (John 10:10) that Jesus brings. I must admit that I too miss the "as yourself" element often. Thanks again for stopping by and leaving your excellent comment.
Hi Brian,
Loving and forgiving myself can be difficult. I tend to be so hard on 'me'. Thanks for pointing out that we need to love our neighbour as ourselves.
Great word!
Blessings,
<><
Yeah, I know what you mean Child of God. You hear verse to "deny yourself" and it sounds conflicting, but the point there is to selfish sinful living and follow Lord Jesus, not punish yourself. If God forgives our repented sin in love, then we need to forgive ourselves in the same godly love. We are sometimes easiest and sometimes hardest on ourselves. A godly and healthy love of self is what the Lord desires and designed us for, so that we can love our neighbor as ourselves. Thank you for writing. Great point sister. Blessings.
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