When I Didn't Love Myself


Most of my life I did not like myself. I loved others but couldn't seem
to love myself. After all what was I doing that was so wonderful.

My thinking began to change when a friend reminded me that Jesus told his
followers to love their neighbors as themselves. If we don't love
ourselves, how can we really love our neighbors?

After our talk, I thought, how can my neighbor be worthy of love and not
me? We are both God's children. God, divine Love, loves all His
children impartially. If God loves me, I must be worthy of that love.
If I feel unloved I'm not aware of my inseparability from God. But
that's impossible because I'm at one with Him in quality. I am made in
His image and likeness. Since God is Love and loves all that He creates,
I have to love myself, because I'm part of that creation and reflect His
love to all, including myself.

None of this means that I am on some ego trip. There is no
self-centeredness in such love. It's really making God, Love, the center
of one's life. Doing so takes effort. I have to examine my thinking
constantly and be sure my thoughts reflect what I know to be true of
Love.

Learning to love myself, I now love my neighbor and the world more. This
Bible verse guides me as I make the effort to be loving: "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."(I John 4:16

Love yourself. You're worthy of such love. You're an important part of
God's creation.