Love yourself

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As everyone knows, Valentine's day is coming up and it's the holiday of my people... the hopeless romantics. However, today I'm not going to give you advice on what to do on Valentine's day if you're single or what to get your boo. I'm just going to talk about loving yourself especially since the day of celebrating love is coming up. ;)

1 Corinthians 13 says:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

This verse has been read at weddings, and printed on posters and pamphlets so many times in the context between two people loving each other. This verse portrays God's perfect love for us and is a guide on how we should love others, but I believe it is also a guide on how God wants you to love yourself.

Love is patient 

Loving yourself means being patient and forgiving yourself when you make mistakes. You are an imperfect person who has made and will continue to make mistakes. You owe it to yourself to forgive yourself from the mistakes you made in the past. You are not defined by your mistakes and the choices you made. When you ask the Lord for forgiveness of your sins...He forgives you. Boom. If the God of the universe is able to forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself? Stop replaying all of the mistakes you made and allowing shame to take over your life. You are forgiven and you are loved. Be patient with yourself the way God is patient with you.

love is kind 

Loving yourself means being kind to yourself. Speak kindly to yourself. There are so many times I overhear people telling themselves that they are "stupid" or "dumb" when they make a mistake, or just bringing themselves down by speaking so negatively about themselves. It genuinely breaks my heart because God does not think that of you, so why should you say that about yourself? If you spoke to someone the way you speak to yourself sometimes, would you wanna be friends with you? It's definitely a good way to check the words you speak to yourself. After all, Proverbs 18:21 says," the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Choose carefully what you say to yourself. Choose life. 

LOve does not envy

Lastly, loving yourself means "check yourself before you wreck yourself". Stop comparing yourself to other people. When you compare ourselves to others, you start to envy what they have and slowly but surely, start to become unhappy with yourself and your life, etc. Whether that means deleting social media for a bit or unfollowing people who you compare yourself to, you have to do it because you will just stir up envy in your heart and loving yourself means not being envious of others. Repeat after me: the Lord has AMAZING plans for my life. If he can do it for others, He can also do it for me. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Just because other people around you are blessed doesn't mean that you are not also going to be blessed. Loving yourself means learning how to be satisfied and content with what you have. Cultivate a heart of gratefulness and remove any envy lurking around.

I could go on and on about loving yourself in a society that is designed to make you want to hate yourself, but I'll stop there for now. I just wanted to remind you that God loves you sooooo deeply, so you should love yourself too, because after all... you are the child of the Most High King. Start loving yourself like you are one.

Happy Early Valentine's Day!
xoxo
​The girl with upside down dimples