Self Love
AM Psalm 146, 147 • PM Psalm 148, 149
Exod. 13:3-10 • 1 Cor. 15:41-50 • Matt. 28:16-20
Recently I’ve been going through a period of searching for God in the world and the relationships around me. As Christians I feel like we often focus on seeing Jesus in others. We are called to love our neighbors and our enemies as ourselves. However many of us struggle to love ourselves well. Today’s New Testament reading reminded me that if I am searching for God in others, I need to be searching for Him in myself. As Paul describes, we are both a man of dust and a man of heaven. If we are unable to love ourselves and sit in solitude, how do we expect to love God and grow close to Him? If Christians are called to see the Christ in others, why do we not focus more on seeing the Christ in ourselves?
Relationships can often act as a mirror, showing us the man of dust within ourselves and similarly the man of heaven. God has brought some pretty amazing people into my life. They have shown me the areas of my life where I’ve fallen away from God, but also have pointed out the unique way that God works in me and through me. Lent is for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. We give up things and add things in hopes of getting closer to God and distancing ourselves from sin. We are preparing the way for the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If Jesus died to save us, then we are worthy of compassion and self-love. We live in a dichotomy—bearing the image of the man of dust and the man of heaven. Jesus died for one so that we may live for the other.
I encourage you to take some time to meditate on the God that flows through you this Easter season. Our relationship with God flourishes on the mountain tops of His creation, the appreciation of Him in the eyes of others, and through making ourselves small in His presence. However everything we need is already present in the God that is always within us.
Written by Hadley Thomas
Hadley graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a biochemistry degree and is in her first year of medical school at the Uniformed Services University. She was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy prior to starting medical school. She is passionate about her faith and is excited to share her perspective and interpretations with the amazing congregation of Saint Paul’s.