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Lol..agreed cross note! Also brother...lol...where is that bible verse that says...Thou shalt walk into a room...and brag upon thyself so much...that thy neighbor will want to hide to escape thou vanity. LolI'm still looking for someone to post the verse that says "love yourself".
Ok, let's put it this way, ..Do you honestly love your neighbor as much as you already love yourself?
Those that hate themselves spend just as much time belittling themselves as the one who stares in the mirror smiling at themselves.
So because the Bible doesn't say "don't hate yourself" You think it's ok to hate yourself?? Self love isn't pride. In the English language they can mean the same thing but they are FAR from the same thing. Pride is where you think of yourself as being better than everyone. Self-love and self-esteem are healthy.
Matthew 23:1-39
V.4: They crush people with people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
Does this look like Jesus wants his relationship with us to be a burden?
V.23: What sorrow awaits you teachers of the religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to tithe the tiniest income from you herb gardens but you ignore the more important aspects of the law- justice, mercy and faith. You should tithe yes, but not neglect the more important things.
What I am getting at here is that there is more to scripture than "oh the Bible says this." Remember how I said Blain sees with his heart and not his eyes? He has a rare gift that not many people have. He understands that the Bible is not so much about "do this, do that, don't do this." It's about action and loving. Part of that is being kind and gentle with yourself. That's what I'm getting at.
Think of it like this:
You: Jesus I'm so sorry I messed up I did this thing and I'm so sorry.
Jesus: I forgive you. Go and sin no more.
You: I really screwed up. I'm a terrible person!
Jesus: Um...I just forgave you...
You: no I mean I REALLY screwed up. I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?
Jesus: yes. I just did. Why are you still upset about this?
You: I'm a failure. I don't deserve to live.
Jesus: Free gift of forgiveness right here!
So self hate can really get in the way of our relationship. It can almost block what God is doing in our lives. Here's another example:
You: I hate myself
God: I love you
You: God doesn't love me
God: yes I do. I just said I did.
You: I can't believe that still small voice in my head. It has to be the devil tricking me to think I'm better than I am. I'm a no good wretched sinner who deserves hell.
God: But my son paid the price...I love you.
You: I deserve to die. I should just take my own life but that would get me sent to hell and I don't want that. God can you please kill me?
God: But I have plans for you! You can be so much more than this! Why can't you see how wonderful I created you?
Random person: hi
You: hi
Random person: How are you?
You: Not good. I feel horrible. I've been struggling with bad thoughts.
Random person: Pray to God to take it away. Anything is possible with Jesus! *walks away*
You: God, I am struggling with bad thoughts. can you help me?
God: I love you
You: That can't be true. I'm not worthy of love
God: -_-
Do you see my point now????
Here's my Bible definition of pride- Pride: Inordinate self-esteem or conciete; disdainful behavior or treatment of others
I'm still looking for someone to post the command/verse that says "love yourself".
Ok, let's put it this way, ..Do you honestly love your neighbor as much as you already love yourself?
Those that hate themselves spend just as much time belittling themselves as the one who stares in the mirror smiling at themselves.
So it sounds like the order of loving is...I can honestly say that I am human and that I study the Bible and I don't love everyone perfectly but I do love them to the best of my ability. I don't think of myself higher than anyone else but I give myself grace. I'm kind to myself. I forgive myself (after I have repented). When I love myself, I can more easily love others because I actually have love to give. When I have self-hate I don't have love to give. Just like hate and hurt can spread so can love. When I love myself I'm secure and I don't have to look for validation from other things or other people. I can rest in the fact that I am so loved by the creator and I can be ok with myself. When I love myself I can give others validation and support. I am more healthy when I love myself.
The verse "love thy neighbor as thy self" is so true because if you don't love yourself then how can you love your neighbor? You can't really the reason is because you have no love to give. In order to love your neighbor you need to be secure in your relationship with Christ and secure in who you are. Being secure in who you are takes self love.
I am so curious what your inner head voice is telling you...I'm guessing it's either telling you that you're trash, that you're not doing enough or that you are such a wonderful christian. I really feel bad for you because if you don't love yourself I wonder what you think of yourself and what you tell yourself. It's sad.
And it's also sad that this thread got ruined for the people who really needed it.
Sorry JF but I do know how this works for most,I was there and I was really,really good at it and what is at the core is self love. See the thing is if I can and debase myself,I can feel sorry for myself because things are NOT THE WAY I want them to be. I can then start having pity parties in which I invite all my friends and family,and then when I do that I BECOME THE STAR FOR A DAY,the center of every ones attention because they too are feeling sorry for me. And then that will last for a little while but it wears off and then we go through it again and again and again. The down side to that is people grow tired of it because it NEVER GETS ANY BETTER and you wind up ALONE. (And Yes the Lord took a two by four upside my to get my attention on this)
The cure to it is having a SOBER JUDGEMENT OF OURSELVES and to see ourselves as God sees us and live in that truth.
So it sounds like the order of loving is...
1. Jesus
2. Yourself
3. Others
...???
True, a thread comes unraveled when it gets 'personal' in a not so nice way.I don't understand how you say the thread got ruined JF? Its a wonderful thread. All threads are not going to agree. Perhaps a blog about how you feel about things in your own opinion may of been better for you, since you feel different opinions ruined your thread?
Thanks for your OPINION. God's Word still stands. Two Commands...Love God/Love your neighbor.It depends on where you are in your life. Sometimes you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Sometimes you need to put yourself aside. You would need to put yourself first when you CAN'T put others first. For example if you ever experience a trauma you need to do A TON of self-care. You can't minister to people when you're having flashbacks left and right. Or what about when a loved one dies and you're paralyzed with grief? How can you possibly minister then? When you can't care for others, get yourself in order.
Once you have yourself in order then you can start to put others first. If everything is going great and you just won an award there is no excuse for not ministering to others. Because you can. Heck if you won an award you had BETTER minister so your pride doesn't blow up because there is a difference between self-love and pride. ;-)\
It's like the oxygen mask thing. You have to put yours on first before you can help someone else.
I don't understand how you say the thread got ruined JF? Its a wonderful thread. All threads are not going to agree. Perhaps a blog about how you feel about things in your own opinion may of been better for you, since you feel different opinions ruined your thread?
I do love myself. Lots of us do! But all I'm saying is there comes a point where humbleness needs to step in and take control, before someone turns self love into vanity. That's all I'm saying. Low self esteem is not appealing for your neighbors to hear, true, but vanity is sickening. At least with low self esteem we have a chance to move up the ladder. When someone is vain...they are so high up on themselves,..the only direction is to fall down. That's all my contribution to the thread was. Forgive me if you think our opinions ruined your thread.
How hard is it to understand I. AM. NOT. TALKING. ABOUT. VANITY!
Thanks for your OPINION. God's Word still stands. Two Commands...Love God/Love your neighbor.
yeah so christian of you making me feel like dirt. Is it worth it? Is being "right" really worth it?
I know what you mean. You mean being kind to yourself. Am I right?
YES!!!!!!!! I say self-love because that's what it is. The Bible says to love your neighbor as yourself. So I just don't see how self-love is a bad thing.
Self- love: being kind to yourself
Vanity: thinking too high of yourself
Pride: thinking that you are better than everyone