Daily Devotional – Saturday, September 10, 2022
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Mark 12:31 (NKJV)
When Jesus told His disciples, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31), He meant that we demonstrate our love for God by loving others. By extension, though, Jesus was emphasizing self-love.
Paul made the following observation about self-love: “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it…” (Ephesians 5:29). Loving ourselves means taking deliberate steps to ensure our bodies work optimally.
The Implications of Self-Love
t implies eating a balanced diet and abstaining from alcoholic beverages. Self-love is choosing carefully food for the mind. Self-love denotes avoiding television programmes and movies that promote violence and vulgarity.
Loving ourselves means choosing our friends wisely because bad company ruins good morals. It implies eschewing friends who do not share our moral values. Self-love is keeping friends who love God in word and deed.
Moreover, when we love ourselves, we create time for spiritual nourishment. We spend adequate time in prayer, Bible study and praise, hence obtaining wisdom for daily living. As King Solomon observes, “He who gets wisdom loves his own soul.” (Proverbs 19:8).
You Shall Love Your Neighbour as Yourself
Loving ourselves is not being selfish. It is the best gift we can give ourselves. Only when we love yourself can we genuinely love other people. When we understand who we are and how precious we are before God, we will love ourselves hence creating the foundation for loving others. We cannot find value in others if we see none in us.
As you contemplate Jesus command, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”, what steps will you take to demonstrate more self-love?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, teaching me how to genuinely and practically love myself so that I can love others according to Your commandment.
