Two Commands (Part 2.A)

Loving Self

A church ought to foster a right sense of self in the disciples it trains. The fact that this is so is enshrined in the second half of the second law: “As you love yourself.” When the scripture talks about this sort of self-love, it is not referring to something narcissistic. Rather, scripture presumes that we, as human beings, are going to look after our general good health, and not seek self-destruction. This is evident from statements like Paul’s in Ephesians 5:28-29. He appeals to the principle of healthy self-love and its practice as he compares how we treat our own bodies to how we treat our wives: “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it…”  Loving self means we rightly understand and care for our physicial needs, and God appeals to this common sense approach to living by commanding us, in the same way, “To love your neighbor…”

A right sense of self care, then, understands the state from which we were saved. We are born sinners, incapable of reaching heaven on our own. Jesus Christ alone is our hope of salvation. After we have been converted by Christ, we still err and stumble, and so must find grace for ourselves by going to God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and giving grace and mercy to others. We remain mindful of our own potential for waywardness, and so we pursue a repentant lifestyle. 

A right sense of self appropriates that forgiveness and is mindful of the fact that “…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Again, not believing we are better than others resulting in God sending his son for us, but that God chose to show us love by sending Christ for you and for me. He did not save us because we had any merits, but because he just wanted to!

Since he first chose us before we ever chose him, and since he also invests in us purpose and giftedness (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, et al) God gives us a value that is measured by Christ himself. Before we were saved from Hell, we were measured by Christ’s merit and found wanting. Now we belong to God by adoption through Christ, and we are measured by the Father’s esteem for Jesus, and found wanted.

On that basis, we ought to care and nurture ourselves. Love and value and take care of yourself! A church fosters a healthy esteem founded on these truths. The church that does this will make disciples with a healthy self worth.