Love Yourself

Loving yourself is not terribly British.  Blowing one's own trumpet or singing one's praises seems unnecessary.

 

We Brits are far more likely to talk ourselves down, to feign 'humility' or 'modesty' by saying that we're not all that good at something actually, or we must have just got lucky.

 

We don't really celebrate ourselves (at least, not out loud for other people to hear us - for fear of seeming arrogant and conceited), and we don't really know how to love ourselves.

 

But until we can love and accept ourselves, we will never be able to truly love others.

 

You can't give something you haven't got.

 

There is an assumption throughout the Bible that we will love ourselves.  And love ourselves well.  In fact, Jesus said that the second most important command was for us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves [Matthew 22:39].

 

Loving ourselves is important.  It is fundamental.  Brene Brown writes,

 

"Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do."

 

And as Carrie Bradshaw says in Sex and the City -

"The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all, is the one you have with yourself."

 

I love this passage in Ephesians about love -

"Mostly what God does is love you.  Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us.  His love was not cautious but extravagant.  He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us.  Love like that."
 

[Ephesians 5:2 MSG]

We can only love like that - giving everything of ourselves to others without trying to get something back - when we are secure in ourselves and when we have accepted God's love for us and have begun to love ourselves.

 

 

 

 

Time Sensitive

I received a piece of post today which had the words 'Time Sensitive' stamped on the envelope.

 

It got me thinking about how most things in life are time-sensitive.  Or about how most of us are sensitive about our time.

 

There is never enough of it.

 

There are always things clamouring for our attention and our time: emails which are flagged as 'urgent' (usually with capitalisation for added effect); deals and offers which are only available for a limited period; and letters which remind you of how sensitive the issue of time is.

 

To ask someone for their time, or to be asked to give your time is a big ask.

 

We've all been caught out by the line, "It will just take a minute of your time", only to find ourselves nearly an hour later in the same conversation, or in the same meeting with no discernible end in sight.

 

Time is a precious gift.

 

No wonder we are sensitive about it.

 

The Bible encourages us to make the most of every opportunity and not to let our time be wasted and taken up with meaningless things:

"Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness [...] So watch your step.  Use your head.  Make the most of every chance you get.  These are desperate times!"

 

[Ephesians 5:11, 15 MSG]

 

The most important thing we can do with our time is to spend it on getting to know God and understanding who we are in Him.  The Bible says,

"It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for."

[Ephesians 1:11 MSG]

 

It is in Christ that we find our meaning and our purpose.  It is in Christ that we find our identity and our acceptance.  It is in Christ that we find God's love and grace and forgiveness.  And it is in Christ that we find the strength and the peace to live each day and to love others. 

 

Now that's a time-sensitive issue.

 

Love is the Answer

I'm not very organised when it comes to ensuring the correct CDs are in the correct cases in the car. 

 

Normally I would tut-tut at myself as, in most respects, I am a very organised person.  However, the CDs-in-the-car thing is a result of changing CDs whilst driving and therefore not having time to fuss about which cases they go into.  Road-safety will always come first.

 

A few days ago, this CD Bingo resulted in the rediscovery of a CD I forgot I owned: Jack Johnson's album 'In Between Dreams'.

 

The words of one song really stuck in my mind and I have been thinking about them ever since:

"Love is the answer,

At least for most of the questions in my heart."

 

We all have questions.  Questions about our lives and our purpose and our pasts and our futures.  Questions about our relationships with family and friends and people who have hurt us.  Questions about God and His existence and His purpose and His kindness.

 

Is love really the answer?

 

How can it satisfy and answer all of those questions?

 

To understand how love can really be the answer, we need to redefine our understanding of 'Love'.  Romantic, soppy, can't-live-without-you love is not the answer to all of our questions or problems (sometimes it just creates more questions and problems).  But true love, do-anything-for-your-good love is the answer.

 

Joshua Harris writes,

"The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, 'This is love.'  God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, 'This is love.'

 

Love is not a fuzzy feeling, it is a verb.  An action, stimulated by a desire to serve and bless and do good for another person, even at the expense of ourselves.  True love cares more for another person than it does for itself and is willing to risk discomfort and vulnerability - even rejection - for the good of another.

I love this passage about love.  I think it is one of the most beautiful in the whole Bible:

"Mostly what God does is love you.  Keep company with him and learn a life of love.  Observe how Christ loved us.  His love was not cautious but extravagant.  He didn't love in order to get anything from us but to give everything of himself to us.  Love like that."

[Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG]

 

I have just come across this beautiful blog about love and read this quote about love being the answer - http://theloveyourselfchallenge.tumblr.com:

"Love is the answer.  It always has been.  I'm not talking about a romantic kind of love, I am talking about a love that breaks through boundaries and meets people where they are.  A love that does not box people in but allows them to be who they are in each and every moment regardless of what they have done in the past or what they will do in the future.  A love that loves with no strings attached refusing to give up on those who need hope the most [...] This Love has been given to all of us through Jesus and when we allow this love to transform us we will then have the love it takes to change the world."

 

[Rae Smith]

 

Love is the answer.