The Most Important Commandment
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 NLT
‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
- Should I love myself?
- We can’t genuinely love God or love others, without genuinely loving ourselves.
- Selfishness and loving ourselves as God loves us are polar opposites.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NLT
- If I’m a follower of Jesus and he loves me, I must follow his lead and love myself.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1a NIV
- We are made in the image of God.
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 NLT
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 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. Psalm 139:13-16 NLT
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 NLT
THE LIES WE ARE TOLD BY THE ENEMY:
- I’m alone
- I’m unlovable
- I’m worthless
“Satan is invested in your defeat, and his primary target is your mind. His mental attacks catapult you into downward spirals as negative emotions drive your thoughts, decisions, behaviors, and relationships. You live on autopilot, circling ever downward into dysfunction and misery.” Jennie Allen “Get Out of Your Head”
- 75 to 98% of mental, physical, and behavioral illness comes from one’s thought life.
- It is when we cannot appreciate our own worth that we find ourselves driven to measure our worth by stuff.
SELF-WORSHIP IS SIN.
- Worshiping anything other than God is idolatry.
- Be careful that you don’t love yourself too much.
- We can take it beyond what God desires.
Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—a stranger, not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2 NLT
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NLT
Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin. Proverbs 21:4 NLT
Arrogance and pride—distinguishing marks in the wicked— are just plain sin. Proverbs 21:4 The Message
Next steps for me today…
- To love myself as God desires.
