Lately I've been trying to figure out weather we're supposed to love ourselves. I mean, on the one hand it says in Gods word that we should "love others as ourselves"...but then it comes back and talks about how men (in the last days) would be "lovers of themselves" like it's a bad thing! How is it that we're this "wretch" that only the grace of God could save,but we should still love ourselves? It seems to me that if I could "love myself" I'd have a really hard time seeing my need of a savior or understanding my own "brokenness."
Our current school of psychology is all about telling us to "love ourselves" and other variations on that idea as it relates to our "self esteem." From my perspective, I can't see what it is we have to be so "self esteemed" about, can you? "Well, I'm a pretty good person" or maybe "I can do this or that better than most people", perhaps "I'm so beautiful to look at" are some of the things we base our self esteem on. In the Bible it say's that mans righteousness is "as filthy rags" and that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"
So then, what is the meaning of it all? How do we "love ourselves" without becoming conceited? How can we love ourselves when our sins have left a scarlet stain on our lives leaving us broken and "un-lovable?" What is it that we as Christians can say to a questioning world when asked if we "love ourselves?" I think the answer goes something like this...We can apply the idea of "love the sinner, hate the sin" in our lives, learning to see ourselves as God see's us, (with compassion). Of beginning to recognize and love what there is IN us that is Christ! It's in the reality that our only real basis for self esteem lies in the love that our heavenly Father has for each of us! I mean, talk about your "redeeming quality's" ..."well, I may be a this or a that but HEY, GOD LOVES ME! and I think that you might had oughta too! (lol) He loved me so much in fact that he sent his only begotten son to die in my place so that we could be redeemed and restored to a full relationship with Him!
I guess my biggest problem is the idea of there being any real love which does'nt originate with God...after all, GOD IS LOVE, he's the source of all love, the idea that man can "make love" is a lie thats designed to encourage us to see ourselves as our own gods...it also leads people on a prideful goose chase forever trying to nail down just what it is we're supposed to be so proud of...(pssst, the emperor has no clothes on!)
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