Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt
Many forget that Jesus said we should love our neighbors as ourselves. One the surface, this seems to be a mandate for self-love. But when we consider His words in context, we see the principle Jesus gave us was radical and refreshing. Jesus declared that if we love God properly, we will come to love ourselves properly. The great Swiss psychologist Paul Tournier once said, 'If a person will love God the way he ought to love God, he will love others the way he ought to love others; and when he loves God and others the way they ought to be loved, he will never need a psychiatrist." Love can give you a healthy mental picture of yourself, enhancing the type of self-esteem that avoids self-worship or self-idolization.
The topics of self and self-esteem have generated an incredible amount of press in recent years. Much of the coverage has been counterproductive, fostering an unhealthy obsession with self and spawning a culture of selfishness that chants the mantra, "What's in it for me?" Simply affirming "I'm okay and you're okay" is not enough, for neither your nor I may really be okay. If you are okay with God and okay with others, chances are you will be okay with yourself. When you love God and your neighbor, self won't seem so important. You will find that love can motivate in a way that fame or fortune never could.
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