Learning to Love Ourselves in Order to Love God and Neighbor

I don’t think we in the church are doing a good job of helping people learn to love themselves. Which makes me wonder if we really know how to love others, and especially love God.

Seriously.

I say that because of what Jesus reveals to us in this week’s Gospel lesson: He tells the Pharisees that the greatest commandment is this: “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

The two most important commandments have to do with love, and they are connected to each other. If we love God with all of who we are, we will love our neighbor, who is made in the image of God. AND we will commit to loving our neighbor with the same care and fullness that we love ourselves.

One look at the world around us, particularly in the midst of a highly divisive election, and the first thing glaringly evident is that love is in short supply. But, even without the stark contrasts that election fever brings, one cannot help noting that love is not clearly evident in how we treat our neighbor through the choices we make and the words we speak.

Maybe, just maybe this is all due to the fact that we don’t really love ourselves and it is easier to take it out on others than allow the self-hatred to further corrode our souls.

I want our churches to be places where people see themselves as God sees them: as beautiful reflections of the Divine.

I want churches to be places where people discover what unconditional love and acceptance feels like, and that you receive it not based on some system of merit but simply because you are you, a one-of-a-kind gift of God to the world.

I want churches to be places where people discover that power is not the same thing as love.

I want churches to be the place where everyone learns that God loves them with a love that will never let them go.

I believe that when we lean into God’s love for us, we can learn to love ourselves. And when we love ourselves, we can truly love God and neighbor in ways that are revolutionary:

--We are unable to allow systems and institutions degrade those around us.

--We become uncomfortable with our own comforts when others are without.

--We make choices—including who we vote for—that demonstrate our love of neighbor, particularly those who are on the margins, who suffer, and who are far from centers of power.

--We shift the values that guide how we move in the world from “I/me” to “We/us”.

Imagine a world where love is the North Star that guides us home to right relationship with God, with neighbor, and with self.

So, friends, let’s help our churches become Love Centers!

Be well! Stay safe! Wear a mask!