Day 37: Thursday, April 6, 2017             Mark 12:31 NIV

“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment  greater than these.”

This passage from Matthew’s gospel may be one of the more familiar sayings of Jesus. We know that God wants us to love others as we love ourselves. Whether from Sunday School as a child, sermons from Sunday morning, or personal Bible study, this command seems to be ingrained into many of us. And let’s be honest, this is extremely important: we are to love others! Often, though, I think we forget the second half of this command. We are to “love your neighbor AS YOURSELF!” I think, especially in Lent, when we practice so much self-denial, we have forgotten that what it means to “love your neighbor” is tied up with loving yourself! It is important to love and serve others; indeed, God commands us to do so, but we must not neglect ourselves in doing so.  Loving yourself is a crucial part of the greatest commandment given by God.

When I was in my final semester of graduate school, I was too busy focusing on things other than myself to actually follow this commandment. I was serving my fellow students as vice-president, making sure I was the student my professors wanted, and making sure I was the employee my boss wanted. I focused so much on pleasing others and doing what others needed that it broke me. I wasn’t paying enough attention to myself, and my life began to fall apart. You know the adage, “Before you can love someone you must love yourself?” I did not love myself. It is hard to love yourself. Loving yourself is not selfishness, either. To truly love yourself, you have to listen to your body, you have to rest, and you have to come to terms with who you are as a Child of God. And this is extremely rewarding! When you focus on what you need, you open yourself up to be rejuvenated by Christ, living how Christ commanded you to live.

This week, take some time to focus on loving yourself and doing what you need. You can’t serve others unless you serve yourself first. There is a reason they tell you on the airplane to put your oxygen mask on before assisting others with their mask. If you don’t give yourself the love and support you need, you cannot successfully give others the love and support they need. Make sure that in loving your neighbor as yourself  you are actually loving yourself so that God may work in you.

Prayer: Holy God, I pray that, while I am working towards loving others as myself, I am working towards loving myself. Help me to listen to my body and support myself in what I need and feel. You showed the greatest love of all by giving Your life for me. Help me to love myself more like You love me. Amen.

Contributed by Corrie Hermans