When I started reading Matthew 22:37-40, the second commandment really smacked me in the face. Because even though I've read these verses more times than I can count, I don't know if I've really looked closely at what they say. It says to love your neighbor "as yourself." It could say a million other things, but it says "as yourself." So what's it mean to love the Lord with all that you are, to love yourself and then to love others as a follower of Christ? That's something that I've been challenged by recently--to love Him with my life, see myself the way Jesus sees me, to love others the way he created me to, and then to walk/live in that.
Here’s a little about me some of you may not know, and it’s a huge part of my story and how the Lord began to teach me about what it means to love him with all my heart and then to love myself as the person He created me to be and then to love my neighbors. It’s all tied together!
-Accepted Christ in my life in 1993 in sixth grade and then we moved back to Florida and I started seventh grade at a private Christian school. Middle school was a really awkward and difficult time for me, just like it is for a lot of people.
-In eighth grade I started losing weight but within a few months it became a full-blown eating disorder. I didn’t fit into any of the regular groups of people who are at high risk—I have an amazing family, I’m a Christian, etc. But what I know now is that it wasn’t even about the food—it was more of a spiritual issue.
Everyone has areas that are like targets for the devil to attack. But the Lord always provides a way out—do you take it? But here are some things that I learned and that I’ve been reminded of recently that absolutely tie in with loving yourself the way God intended:
LISTEN to His voice. Who does He say I am vs. who others say I am? We all know who the world says we should be, and that doesn't go away as you get older. But who does the Lord say I am? Do I listen to Him or to them?
-I'm chosen by God, holy and dearly loved, bought with a price
-Nothing will separate me from His love
-I am forgiven, by his wounds I'm healed
-I'm created by his hand--fearfully and wonderfully made
-All of my days are ordained, his plan is to prosper and not to harm me
-He has redeemed me and called me by name
-I can walk in freedom because He's set me free
-I'm called out of darkness and into His light
Jesus is the shepherd and He says that His sheep listen to His voice. I'm constantly learning to listen to His voice and making a choice to listen to Jesus instead of the noise around me. But the more you listen to someone, the more you recognize their voice. Example: My sis. So who do you listen to?
Look at myself the way He sees me. Seeing yourself as anything or anyone other than who He created you to be can have potentially devastating consequences--I know because I've seen it and I've been there. The Bible tells us that satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus gives us life--and it's abundant life! So when you're being hit on all sides and are tempted to buy into the lies and see yourself as less that who you are in Christ, put on the armor and just stand (Ephesians). Sometimes just standing can be exhausting, but it's what we're commanded to do and it's for our own good. Who do you see when you look in the mirror? We're given a choice--to choose life or not. What do you choose? What do I choose and WHO do I choose?
Now LIVE!! You have to know Jesus--not just know about him--to really hear his voice and to see yourself through His eyes. It's about a living, breathing, exciting relationship; not about religion. He knows us and loves us more than we could ever comprehend. A consequence of that relationship with Jesus is that you desire to love Him with all your heart, soul and mind; and you begin to get glimpses of how deep, high and wide his love is for you. Only then can you even begin to truly love yourself and then love others the way God intended. I want to be someone who is so convinced of who I am in Him and so secure in His love for me that it comes as naturally as telling someone my name. I want to be about life because Jesus is about life--and I absolutely desire that for every student in the HS ministry.
Becca Warren is a high school volunteer at WHSM