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Author: Stephen Weller
614 words, 3 minutes read time

How To Love Self

Scripture: Mark 12:32-34

In the previous lesson we looked at the second greatest command which was, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We spent all of our time on love and its characteristics, but never spoke of the meaning of loving others as we love ourselves. So, how are we to love ourselves?

As I searched for an understanding of this, I found a very helpful article at this link. The article begins by showing what is commonly accepted as self-love and shows why this is wrong. After looking at these reasons, the author then looks at what the Bible says about the love of self.

In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul describes people in the last days and indicates that a characteristic will be lovers of self rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. This kind of love is looking for something within us that we love and can embrace; something about ourselves that we find acceptable. The problem with this is that we are broken sinful people and if we truly love ourselves, we need to see ourselves as God sees us; people who need to be redeemed. We need to bring our sin to the cross and through belief in the finish work of Jesus Christ on the cross be redeemed. Having done that, we are then able to see and accept ourselves as redeemed people and can look within, not to see that we are worthy in ourselves, but because Christ is worthy. As redeemed people, we have been washed clean and declared righteous by faith in Christ (Romans 3:24).

The article concludes with the statement: “True self-love is acceptance of ourselves as redeemed people. Yes, we are loved and accepted, but it is precisely not because we are worthy in ourselves, but because Christ is worthy. Only when we accept the reality of redemption can we find freedom to look outwards. When our gaze is bent inward on ourselves, we fail to love God and cannot hope to love others.”

^{Mk 12:32} And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

The scribe was impressed with the answer Jesus gave and added that loving God and one’s neighbor was more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. This scribe was beginning to understand what Jesus was teaching and caused Jesus to comment on that understanding.

^{Mk 12:34} And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Jesus tells this scribe that he was not far from the kingdom of God. That which separated him from the kingdom was seeing Jesus as God’s beloved Son as expressed by the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:7), not being ashamed of identifying with Jesus Christ (Mark 8:38), and as the one who will suffer a substitutionary death on his behalf (Mark 10:45).

Conclusion

How close to the kingdom are you, or are you a member? “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV).