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Hi I have not been a christian for very long but my girlfriend has and I was wondering if what she says is Biblically based or if she is just making it up...she is saying that I need to Love myself first..before anything else...but doesnt the Bible say to Love the Lord your God first and foremost above anything else and I dont recall reading anything in the Bible anywhere about loving yourself so is that just bogus or what?...thanks anyone for the response. -Dan

hello dan and welcome to the forums! You ask a very good question and I encourage you to keep seeking out advice from believers as well as guidance from the Holy Spirit in your walk with the Lord.

Both of you speak truth, allow me to explain. Two of the most important commandments that Jesus left is to love the Lord with all our heart and to love our neighbor as we would ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). If we dig deeper into the loving the Lord part we will discover that it also means loving ourselves in a way that is gives credit where it is due. For example:

Psalm 139:14 - Taken from New International Version


So you see the psalmist is praising the Lord based on how God has made them. "Your works are wonderful" would also point to self, as we are all God's creation so there is a biblical love of self that exists. It's one that looks at self, but not in a selfish way.

Galatians 6:2-4 2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Let each one examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else. Context (NET)

Similarily this verse points out that we should correctly evaluate our lives and can take pride (a seemingly selfish thing but not if its done in the correct light) in a way that it doesn't make us better than anyone else. For example if you said and believer over the years your faith has matured and if true without comparing that to anyone else then I say thats something to praise the Lord about.

Personally I used to think that everything about the human is evil including all its pleasures. Enjoying sushi was selfish, having money was selfish, anyone who drove a luxury car was selfish, talking about how my day went was selfish, thinking about what to wear was selfish, self enjoyment and focus was just bad and bad. Over time the Lord has corrected me and now I realize that God made me in his own special way and I love that! I love how God made me the analytical type (sometimes I think too much though), I just love thinking and talking about complicated things, especially when it has to do with Christ.

Someone here once posted a saying which I believe is a correct approach to living the Christian life: Love God completely, love self correctly, love others
compassionately.

All of this is possible by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Hope that helps,

Although it's not unanimous, the rabbinic consensus on 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself' is not that it means "love other people the way you love yourself" or "love other people as much as you love yourself" but that it means "love other people the way you want other people to love you" -- a sentiment echoed in Jesus' teaching commonly called 'the golden rule'.

Love of self is not a difficult thing. We all do it. It comes naturally, even for those with a poor "self-esteem." We all do the things we think or hope will gratify us.

Paul tells us that everyone loves himself:

But Paul tells us that Jesus provides us with the example that we should follow:

The greatest love any man can show for himself is to put God first in all things. For God is the ultimate provider of joy, satisfaction and purpose in life. God has created all things for one ultimate purpose, to bring glory to Himself. But He is most glorified when His intelligent creatures find their greatest satisfaction in Him.

Regards.

IMO, the idea that we need to learn to love ourselves is a pop psychology myth. The Bible doesn't tell us to love ourselves. It assumes that we already do. And I'll go with the Bible over Whitney Houston, if you get my reference.

I think people get confused about this because they tend to think of love primarily as a feeling -- a good feeling. And many people do no feel good about themselves. Many people do not even like themselves, so how can they possibly love themselves? But when God tells us to love our neighbor, he isn't commanding us to feel good about people. He's commanding us to action -- the kind of action that ordinary people will undertake for themselves. When we are hungry, we seek to feed ourselves. When we grow tired, we seek rest. When we are cold, we seek warmth. When we hurt, we look for a way to end the pain. We try to meet our own needs and that's the kind of love we are to have for our neighbor.

i am loving myself its really good thing if you love himself.Its nice habbit