Caring Or Condemning Yourself
The idea of self-love is misunderstood.
If you have been reading my posts awhile you may, by now, understand that I believe we do not manufacture love. It exists in the same way energy exists. It can neither be created nor destroyed. It is simply transferred from one to another. Therefore, I believe God created the universe as an expression of his love.
Because I have written about love many times, I won't rehash things here except to say, let's put this idea into the concept of Self-Love. This becomes the appropriation of love from God to one's self, soul, or soil. This changes the act from one of selfishness to one occurring within a relationship. I am allowing God's love to come into me first.
This is critical because I have no power to push God's love into others directly, meaning I don't control God. How God gets love into others is between the two of them. What I can do with others is to love them as I love myself with the love God gives me — and because I filled up my love needs first with God; I have something healthy to dispense. Also, when love goes through me from God to others, I am protected from the destructive nature of pride. If God chooses to love through me then all I am really doing is participating in something God is doing. He is using me as one of his instruments, which inevitably comes back to bless rather than harm me. So, when I love with God's love, I am not depleted, but filled even more -- which means it is really no sacrifice in the end.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”