Self-Love...A Thing to Ponder

What was your reaction after you read the title of this post? Did you cringe a little at the idea of loving yourself? The other day while reading Biblical Christian Ethics by Dr. David Jones I got to the chapter on self-love, and was really intrigued by the discussion.

"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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

Until reading this part of the book the other day I had never pondered what it means to love myself. Even just writing that sounds kind of weird. Whenever I have read this verse in the past I have only thought about the loving your neighbor part, and never considered what it means to love my neighbor as I love myself.

If you found yourself cringing when you read that I wonder if it is because we are commanded in Scripture to deny ourselves (Luke 9:23), to look to the interest of others and not ourselves (Phil, 2:2-4), and to not be self-seeking (Romans 2:8). Yes! All of these things are true, but so is Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Maybe you cringed because you thought, "Why should I love myself when I can't stop sinning against my children, spouse, or friends" or when you look at yourself you think "I am stupid, I don't like my body, or I don't like the way I interact with others." Sadly, I think this is our automatic response. Yes, we are sinners and because of our brokenness and the brokenness of the world we live in we all have beliefs about ourselves that are skewed due to our personal stories and the struggles we have experienced. These things are real, and something to work through as we all continue to understand this idea more. Rather then self-love we often have self-hatred.

Jones calls loving self a moral obligation, and his view is based on a perspective originally voiced by St. Augustine. As human beings we have been made in the image of God. Therefore when we look at ourselves we are called to love the creature that God has made, and care for it as well. We as humans are called to care for our bodies, emotions, minds, and hearts. It becomes an ethical issue because how can we really love our neighbors and care for them if we don't know how to care or love ourselves?

Do you see yourself through the eyes of God? This idea of self-love is one that could so easily drive a person to self-righteousness or selfishness, but this is not what God has in mind. I will let Jones' words end this post. As the title says this is something worth pondering, and bringing before the Lord as we learn more of what He means to love him, love ourselves, and love our neighbors.

"It should be noted that the Augustinian ground for self-love has a moral imperative is derived not from the second great commandment, though that confirms it, but from the commandment to love God, who himself desires what is in our best interest...given the Biblical frame of reference in which the goal is the glory of God and the norm is the will of God, the idea of self-regarding duties is not problematic. We belong to God and are responsible to him for the preservation of our life, chastity, property, and good name, as well as that of others. It is a theocentric self-regard that is assigned paradigmatic value in the commandment to love our neighbor as ourself."

-Lindsey