The Greatest Love of All

In 1986 Whitney Houston released a #1 hit, “The Greatest Love of All”. The last line of the chorus is: “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all”. As daughters of the Most High, I think we could use some encouragement in that area.

Paul really sums up Love in I Corinthians 13:4-8a. My favorite translation is the Amplified Bible, because it is very detailed, but the blessing is we have many translations to choose from. Mostly when I have read, studied or meditated on this passage of scripture, it has always been to work on how I am to walk in love toward others. I never used to look at how it pertains to me loving myself.

The love walk is a daily struggle in the life of the Believer, because it is the heart of who we are to be. We are to walk in love toward others in a way that basically makes no sense to those outside the Household of Faith. Pray for those who mistreat you. Turn the other check. Be kind to someone who has wronged you. Forgive the one who has used and abused you, over and over again. These are the commands of God on how we are to live our lives. So, yes, it is a daily struggle to obey, because our flesh doesn’t roll like that. ~Smile~ But I think in our daily struggle to walk in the love of the Lord toward others, we completely forget about loving ourselves.

Verse 4 starts off “Love is patient, love is kind.” Wow, we often pray to be patient with others, but when was the last time you prayed to be patient with yourself? Maybe never. How kind are you to you? I think these are valid questions we would do good to answer. Why? Because often we are not patient with ourselves or as kind to ourselves as we should be. And to honestly sit down and take the time to examine “Why not?” would be a great benefit to most of us.

The more patience we can have for ourselves the more we will be able to accomplish in life. Patience helps us to persevere (hang in there) in the goals that we have set for ourselves. But mostly in the things that God is teaching us. We are quick to give up on “us”! We are quick to fall into failure mode when we don’t get it right away. But when we can begin to look at ourselves through the eyes of love that is laced with patience and kindness, we will fair much better. Being kind to oneself is not an excuse for poor behavior or the makings of a pity party. No, that’s not what it means. It means to give yourself a break. Have compassion for you in the areas you have messed up in and those that still need change. Stop being your own worst enemy and harsh critic of yourself. It means striving to see ourselves as God does—a work in progress.

Love holds no record of wrong. In order to not hold a record of wrong against someone, we must forgive the wrong done and the person responsible. You know what sisters that includes us too. We have to stop beating ourselves up for past mistakes and poor decisions. There is nothing we can do to change the past. Okay, so you did something really stupid, and it has changed the course of your life and that of your family. But to continue to live a life of regret when you have been forgiven by God (and He has put the infraction in the sea of forgetfulness); doesn’t make sense. It’s time to stop holding that record of wrong against yourself. It is time to let go, and allow yourself the joy of loving you.

I’m going to change the lyrics a little so it says, “Learning to love yourself is one of the greatest loves of all.”

Love is an action word, and we have a say as to whether we are going to love or not. It is all based on our decision. I want to encourage you, to make the decision to learn to love yourself.

Have a blessed and wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week!



Love & Hugs
Ponnie

See you Monday!