Once while Jesus was traveling and speaking about the Kingdom of God He had an interesting question asked to Him…

Matthew 26:36-40

“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.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

What a great question asked. Out of all the laws of Moses what is the most important? Jesus’ reply was about worship. It was about placing your love and affection on God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The greatest commandment we first must live by is to be a worshiper. This is why I wrote my first book “The Worship Revolution” on becoming who we were created to be…a worshiper. But, I want to focus on what Jesus says next, because there is a major challenge hidden in it.

Jesus said the second commandment is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” WOW, love your neighbor? But what if they are rude, mean, different, weird, annoying, or frustrating? Jesus gave no exceptions to the commandment, He just said to love them! But here comes the hidden message…He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If most people loved their neighbor as they love themselves they would be a terrible neighbor. Unfortunately many people do not love themselves at all. There is a horrible disease going around that is called “Self-Mutilation.” It happens when people degrade themselves, speak poorly of themselves, have no confidence in themselves, and think self-destructive thoughts about themselves! This disease hinders us from truly loving ourselves which affects our ability to love others. The relationships we have with others are usually determined by the relationship we have with ourselves. You cannot truly love others if you do not love yourself. You limit your ability to love when you do not love yourself.

Loving yourself is not about pride and thinking too highly of yourself. It means you are comfortable with who you are. It means you love the person whom God is working on…YOU! If you can’t see yourself as valuable you will not see the value in anything you do! If we truly are supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves then we better learn to love ourself more and more! If you want to grow in your relationships, grow your ability to relate to yourself first. The more you accept who you are the more you can accept what life is all about…loving God & loving others!

So my challenge to you today is this…

1. Do you love yourself?

2. Write down all the reason that you should love yourself.

Make a “love list” of all the things that you are grateful for concerning yourself. It may sound “sappy” to some, but trust me it is vital for you to identify why you truly love yourself. Making a list will help you detangle your thoughts and remember why you are valuable. If you cannot love yourself and know why you love yourself you will never become ALL that God created you to be.

Download my Love List worksheet and write down the top 10 reasons why you love yourself.