In order to give so fully of yourself, there needs to be enough of you. You need the appropriate balance of love and respect for yourself. When Paul recalls the command to love others as yourself in Romans chapter 13, he reminds us that all the commandments are summed up by loving others as you love yourself. When we take care of ourselves, making ourselves no more or less important than our neighbors, we are living out God’s command.
It is perhaps harder to see love of self as part of our call as Christians, especially since sacrificial love for others is the very foundation of our faith. While we must remember this and keep the great gift Christ gave us at the center of our faith, it can be taken too far. The scriptural command remains: As people who love God and follow Jesus, we must love ourselves as much as we love our neighbor.
This message is excerpted from “Loving others as you love yourself” by Megan Torgerson in the March 2019 Cafe online magazine.
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