LOVE

Today is Day 5 of the "write31days" challenge; and when I first read this week's Tuesday @ Ten prompt phrase, I thought:





"I already wrote on this word for Day 7 {of  31 days}; maybe I will just use that here, too."

But, then I thought about it further:  "No, that wouldn't be the same as writing a new post for Tuesday @ Ten; that would be a 'cop out', wouldn't it?!"

So, here is this week's prompt ...

That's it...LOVE!

There are many types of "love"; and I feel it's over-used, as I wrote in my post - to be published in a couple of days...we say things like "I love my cat" or "I love that necklace" or "I love ice cream"!

But, I want to share another type of love today...the love of yourself!

Last Saturday, I attended a women's gathering of the Disciples' Women's Ministry called, simply, "The Women"!  Our speaker encouraged us to be the woman that God wants us to be...

We are called to love God first!  Once we love God completely, we are equipped to love others...

And it would be assumed we should love others second, after loving God...

But...

Truthfully, we should love ourselves second so that we can love others.  If we are not able to love ourselves, how are we to know how to love others?  We need to love ourselves "correctly".

We are to love ourselves, but not in a selfish, arrogant, prideful way.  We need to love the person that we are...outside as well as inside.

I'm not completely sure I love myself.  I admit to having some traits that I wish I could change; but - I feel I do try to be the person God wants me to be, and each day is a new day to strive for the goal of showing the "fruits of the Spirit:

Found on Pinterest

Shared by homegrownhospitality.typepad.com

This is a very familiar passage about the "fruits of the Spirit"; but, when I read it in The Message Bible...

"But what happens when we live God's way?  He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity.  We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people.  We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely."

When we live in the Spirit, when we exhibit these "gifts", when we love ourselves...

Well, let's read a little further in this passage:

"Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.  That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse.  We have far moer interesting things to do with our lives.  Each of us is an original."  (Galatians 5:25-26)
Once we have loved God completely; and we have loved ourselves correctly...

Then we can spread that love to others all around.


So, I challenge you to love others as you love yourself!  But to first love God as He desires.