In All Your Loving, Don’t Forget to Love YOU!

By: Janiece Renee

"You are worthy of your own love”

I’ve been saying this a lot over the past year. The reason why? Because I’ve needed to remind myself to love me too. In the midst of loving everybody else, I was forgetting to love the most important person in my life…ME.

I think so many of us spend most of our energy on loving other people. We show love to our significant other. We show love to our family. We show love to our friends. We show love to strangers. We’re even called to love our enemies.

But…what about YOU sis?

In Mark 12:31, Jesus says, “…‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This is a call for us to love our neighbor. But something that we miss is that it presupposes self-love. In other words, how you treat your neighbor is a direct indication of how you feel about yourself. If you treat your neighbor poorly, it’s because deep down inside, you think poorly of yourself. But if you love yourself, you will love others from a place of self-love and confidence.

This is why self-love is so important. Because it doesn’t just affect you but it also has an effect on those around you. Which means that you should NEVER feel guilty about taking time out for yourself, doing self-care, tending to your own wellness, and taking some time for self-discovery. This self-work is important for you and for those around you.

But even more than the larger picture is the reality that YOU, not because of your status, not because of your looks, not because of who your significant other is, not because of the lineage you come from, not because of your goals…YOU, because you are you and Gods beloved daughter, are worthy of your own love.

God has already called you good in His own eyes. So, take the time out to intentionally love yourself. To seek tools to build your self-esteem. To do what is best for your own self-love. Because sis…you need you to be okay.