Loving Yourself

The Bible teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves. It goes on to say that this is one of the greatest commandments. You see, God knew that if we loved our neighbors as we love ourselves, our only choice would be to be kind to one another. The problem is many of us don’t love ourselves. Consequently, we can’t love anyone else.

So, you may be wondering, how do I begin to love myself? Well, there are many solutions we can employ to begin to love ourselves. I have listed several of them below.

1.) Remember that you have the power of life and death in your own tongue. Stop criticizing yourself. Be aware of your self talk. Speak to yourself in ways that are kind. Stop being your own worst critic. Criticism breaks the inner spirit and never changes anything. Release the old critical voices from the past and learn to keep them from impacting your future.
2.) Learn to speak positively about yourself. Use affirmations and speak of yourself the way God speaks of you. “You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ.” “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” “You are the head and not the tail.” “You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.”
3.) Treat yourself well. I firmly believe that we teach people how to treat us, but when we don’t treat ourselves well, we can’t teach others to do the same. Find ways to pamper yourself and replenish your soul. Strengthen your inner self by reading the Word and meditating on it to find comfort.
4.) Understand that the love must come from you. Others cannot affirm or love you the way you can. Stop looking to parents, significant others, and even children to do what only you can do yourself.
5.) Accept yourself for who you are. Good, bad, or ugly, you are who you are. Come Understand yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. Start there and move on. If you find that there are some things about yourself that you don’t like, begin changing them. Acknowledge that you created your negative attitudes about yourself for a reason. Now you need to find new, more positive ways to fulfill those needs. If necessary, come to terms with those aspects of yourself that you cannot change.
6.) Be your own best friend. Like, trust, and respect yourself. See yourself through compassion the way you would a friend. Cut yourself some slack.
7.) Don’t judge yourself harshly. Try to understand where the judgment is coming from and deal with it head on.

It is important for each of us to remind ourselves that we are not perfect.

Cheryl Lacey Donovan is an author, educator, inspirational speaker, and talk show host. Visit her at www.cheryllaceydonovan.com