I am not Jesus.
I know this. I know I am not the embodiment of God in the flesh. I know I am not blameless or without fault. I know I am not the savior of the world.
Let me back up…
Since starting this counseling program at Lipscomb, and maybe even a bit before, I’ve become all the more aware of the benefits and necessity of self-love and self-care. It’s so important to be able to love and care for yourself in order to be wholly available to properly love and care for others.
This has even come to bring another extraordinary level of significance to the command to “love others as you love yourself.” I must learn, and be able, to truly love myself in order to properly and truly love others.
Loving yourself isn’t always easy. It’s even harder when living with any amount of guilt or shame. Self-love and self-worth are the antidote, though, to guilt and shame having so much say and control over your life.
Self-love isn’t always properly taught, even (especially?) within the walls of a church building. Often, what is loudest preached is “die to self.” I believe this is an extremely important concept, but is also so often misinterpreted as “I should silence my own wants/needs/desires” or “less of me is better,” all in the name of being a good Christian.
I believe instead of less of us, God wants more of us. He wants us to become fully alive to the person He’s created us to be!
I want to be (like) Jesus.
Every time I enter the therapy room and sit with clients, my prayer is that I will be Jesus to them. I pray that if at no other point during their week, for those fifty minutes they can experience Jesus and get a glimpse of His reflection in me.
I believe we become most fully alive, our truest and best self, when we are most full of God’s Holy Spirit. That’s as close as we can ever hope to come to being like Jesus. Jesus was God with us. With the Holy Spirit, we have God in us. How amazing is that??
Part of my own work and self-care is recognizing my own holiness. How often do we think to do that? How easy is it for us to do that, even if we think to? Does it sound vain or prideful? It shouldn’t. If anything, it’s an opportunity to boast in the Lord!
Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 1:30-31
Man in the Mirror
This may seem cheesy (do it, though, and you may find you’ll think differently about it!), but I want to share one of my favorite things to do at the end of the day:
When the day’s over, and I’m winding down for bed, I’ll just stand and look at myself in the mirror.
I’ll look at my eyes, my freckles, my wrinkles, and all the parts of me that tell the story of who I am. I’ll notice how much I’ve changed over the years, or through recent months, and sometimes the man I see isn’t necessarily the one I grew up knowing.
I’ll be critical of the mistakes this man has made, or lament the fact that he doesn’t have much of a chin or a pronounced enough jaw.
I’ll smile thinking of all the fun, exciting things he’s done, and all the things crazy, unexpected things he’s accomplished and achieved in the seemingly many lifetimes he’s lived by now.
Then, I’ll try to see him through God’s eyes, love him the way God loves him, and experience the gratitude that comes with knowing such a love.
And I’ll recognize the face and the eyes and the smile of Jesus, looking back at me.
It’s profound the difference this makes on my attitude towards myself, and by extension the love I can confidently extend to others.
H.W.L.F.
“What would Jesus do?” was a phrase apparently coined in the 1880s, and popularized in the 1990s by the ever-trendy WWJD bracelets. It’s a constructive question that is intended to inform and influence our decision making. Too often, though, it is trivialized or left hanging unanswered. The simple answer, I believe, is that He would love first.*
What I’m saying is, if we truly want to fulfill that second command which Jesus says is just as great as the first, we must learn to love ourselves in right and healthy ways so that we are better equipped and able to love others. It’s what Jesus would do, did do, will do, and does.
Be like Jesus. Love God, love yourself, love others.
Until next time,
If you’ve found these thoughts helpful or insightful, please consider passing them along! And always feel free to leave a comment or write me directly with your own thoughts and perspectives:)
*Not to be That Guy who sees an infomercial about a product and exclaims, “I totally thought of that like a year ago!” but someone else has also arrived at this answer to that age-old question and has even made the response into a bracelet itself. You can find them at hewouldlovefirst.com if you feel so inclined to check them out.
