love your neighbor as yourself. seems simple enough. but what if you don’t love yourself? what if you know all the flaws and shortcomings and sins about yourself that no one else does? What if your thoughts are selfish and wicked? What if you judge other people? We judge what they wear, and what they say, and how they spend their money, and how they show love. I judge.

love your neighbor as yourself. i think this principle is less something to strive towards and more a reflection of reality. I think WE DO love our neighbor as we love ourselves. the problem is the way we love ourselves. the problem is what we think about ourselves. we see weakness and sin and failure and then when we look at others, guess what we see?? weakness and sin and failure. we turn the hatred for ourselves outwards towards other people.

I have to learn to see Christ in me before i can see Christ in others.

If i may take this a step further….

Shame is the key to this issue, in my opinion. When Adam and Eve became aware of their sin for the first time ever, shame entered the world. Then, instead of continuing the relationship built on intimacy and vulnerability, they covered the parts of their bodies that represented the intimacy that had been broken. The covered their bodies from each other AND from God. Shame took their eyes off of each other and what they had been given and put it on themselves. They thought covering themselves was the answer. And we do the same thing today. We cover our shame with other stuff (anger? food? cutting? distance? lies? silence?) and separate ourselves from intimacy with God and with other people. Even though intimacy is the answer. Intimacy is the answer. Intimacy is the answer. did you get that yet? Intimacy creates life. Intimacy creates good fruit. Intimacy creates. So the enemy attacks intimacy and tricks us into separation, self hatred, and shame.

In the Old Testament, men lived in a visitation society. God came and met with them then he left again. We no longer live in a visitation society because Christ died for our sins and the Holy Spirit has come and lives inside of us. All the time. And because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we live in a season of GRACE. not judgement, but grace. we are covered by His blood and when God looks at us He sees the reflection of Himself that He placed in us in the womb and longs to call out our destiny and our beauty. He longs to draw near and give us experiences with Him.

Our prayer must arise: Father, what do you think of me?

When we know what the Father thinks of us, and how much he loves us, and is overjoyed by us, and is ravished in love with us, then we can finally RECEIVE his love, as he is the source of love, and then, finally, we can love others. And then, finally, we can uncover our shame and enter into intimacy with God and with our friends and family.

So the next time you want to cover your shame with a DQ blizzard or a tv marathon or a shopping spree, just stop and sit and ask the Lord to give you what you need in that moment. and once we learn to get our needs met from the source of all things good, then we can start to give others around us what they need too: love.