This week's Theme: The Greatest Love
Day 1: Incredible Worth
“Loving yourself,” a popular principle states, “is the greatest love—You can’t love others unless you first love yourself.”
The idea of worth embedded in this principle is undeniably important, especially for those (individuals or groups) who have been devalued and disparaged, disempowered, and marginalized.
So important it is, in fact, that Scripture has a lot to say in teaching and in practice. From cover to cover, the Bible affirms human worth, assuring us that we were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), that God is mindful of us and cares for us (Psalm 8:4-8), that we were fearfully and wonderfully made (by a God whose works are wonderful) (Psalm 139:14).
Scripture reminds us that we are much more valuable than sheep (Matthew 12:12) or birds (Luke 12:24), that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to save us (John 3:16), that we are God’s handiwork (Ephesians 2:10), that with [His] blood [Jesus] purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation (Revelation 5:9).
For the marginalized, the downtrodden, the oppressed, the voiceless, the message is clear. God's unfailing promise stands, The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed (Psalm 103:6).
He will hold to account powerful oppressors, and those who deny people their rights and deprive them of justice (Lamentations 3:35-36)—for the attributes of righteousness and justice are foundational tenets in God’s kingdom and rule (Psalm 89:14, 97:2): “I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing” (Isaiah 61:8).
And in the amazing love and grace of Jesus there is good news for the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, freedom for the captives, release for the imprisoned, comfort for the grieving, rebuilding for the ruined, restoration for the ravaged, elevation for the shamed, joyful embrace for the disgraced (Isaiah 61:1-7).
No greater realization of worth, no greater assurance of esteem is possible, than to know that God's Messiah, the Lord Jesus, brought us the Year of the Lord's Favor (Isaiah 61)—that the God of heaven came to earth to sacrifice His life for you, for me. Because love—the greatest love of all—was the very mission of Jesus:
“I lay down My life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me...I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18).
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16).
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
And to this love He calls us: “The most important [commandment],” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
But as startling as it may be, the “love-priority” of the Scriptures does not include a command to love self. The God who made us understands our propensity to self-love. It is for this reason that the command to love others instructs us to do so as we love ourselves. The implication is clear—we already love ourselves.
And yes, we may have been damaged or broken by negative messages and cruel cycles. But God meets us in those places with the assurance of our incredible worth, the affirmation of our incalculable value.
Yet, the pathway to healing does not esteem self-love as the greatest love. Au contraire, God's healing prescription is designed to take our focus away from the self that sinks us with all its hurts, grievances, bitterness, and angst: Love God, love others.
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
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