Love Yourself Series

Love Yourself

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

We are in the month of love =) and this is a great month for love. You have Valentines Day and all, and at this church two different couples have been married this month. We also have been talking about worship and the seriousness of worship, what is worship, and I’m Worth It was the message on Sunday. We are going to continue in that vain.

We have tendencies to be so unbalanced in so many ways:

Proverbs 11:1

A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

The principles in the Word do show us that balance is important, Ecc. 3

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

So here it is we are called to love God and worship Him, we are called to love our neighbors and we strive and work at that, but what we never focus on is that we are too called to love ourselves

Not Self-Centered Love: Not stuck up, prideful, egotistical, boastful, always complimenting yourself.

The Scriptures are clear on being against that train of thought:

2 Timothy 3:1-2 You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves

Proverbs 21:4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Proverbs 27:2 Praise should come from another person and not from your own mouth, from a stranger and not from your own lips.

But if there is a command to love others as you love yourself you can’t give what you don’t have!

There is a healthy necessary place you need to have as a child of God, understanding the reason behind you should love yourself. Because you are made in the image and the likeness of God

And I am not simply referring to the shallow love only of simply liking the way you look, though you should…

Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

The start of loving yourself and then moving into loving others has to begin with realizing the Love of God

1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

***Psa 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

When you love yourself then you are mirroring what God has for you, that means when you love yourself there are somethings that you should not walk in:

Love cast out all fear:

1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear of a awful judgement and no longer do I have to live my own life in defensive mode

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

If I am not afraid I can go boldly to the throne room and find grace