‘O Lord , you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord . You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. O Lord , shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.’ Psalms 139:1-24(NLT)
‘But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”’ Matthew 22:34-40(NLT)
In some of His most famous words, Jesus said, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Matthew 22:37–39).
This shows us the connection between having a relationship with God and having relationships with people, as we saw back in Devotional 1. But let’s look closer at the second greatest commandment. Notice that it says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus drew a definite connection between our love for others and our love for ourselves.
Most of us spend so much time hating things about ourselves that we don’t realize we’re crippling our ability to love others. There’s no way you can figure out how to love somebody else well in a relationship if you have not first figured out how to love yourself.
Some of us treat ourselves so ugly. We settle for way less than what we know we deserve. We violate our bodies and our hearts and allow others to do the same. We use our own words to put ourselves down constantly.
Well, consider this. If you devalue yourself, then you will inevitably end up treating your neighbor, or even your spouse, the same way.
In order to learn to love yourself the way God intended, you have to build a relationship with God, who is love. Remember, your relationship with Him is your ultimate relationship. But then loving yourself means accepting who God created you to be, as hard as that may be for you. It means taking the time to find your fulfillment in Him and realizing that only He can fill the emptiness you feel inside.
The way God created you was not a mistake. Remember, He made the human race and He “saw that it was very good!” (Genesis 1:31). He calls you His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). He wants you to see yourself the way He sees you—loved and valuable.
What are the obstacles you face to having a healthy self-love?
from Relationship Goals by Pastor Michael Todd