How Do We Love Others?
What does loving others look like?
Verses of the Day
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
Today’s Devotional
I said to a friend yesterday, “I love you today.” This is something that I say to my daughter and husband frequently, but my friend was taken off guard. She responded, “Just today? I love you everyday.”
The reason I say that is because today is all I have to work with. Today is the only day I can choose to love. Because loving others is a choice. And if I look closely at Jesus’s command, it says to love others as I love MYSELF. But how do I love myself? Well, I prioritize my needs. I feed myself and take care of my body. I pray for myself. I do things that I enjoy and that I find uplifting. I allow myself time to rest and regroup. I remind myself of God’s love for me and my value in God’s eyes. I forgive myself for my mistakes and failures. I continually seek to be growing spiritually and emotionally. I have people in my life to hold me accountable. I participate as part of a community of believers. I am grateful when God allows me to have any kind of “success” or accomplishment.
I’m sure this list of how we can love ourselves could go on, and might be different for each person. It’s interesting that as I wrote that last paragraph, I realized that I could not have made that list a few years ago. I did not love myself. I did not know how. I did not see my own value. But, I have done a lot of soul searching and a lot of work on myself and on my relationship with God. When I read the Bible, the only conclusion I can come to is that God loves me ridiculously and relentlessly. If God, the Creator of all, loves me…then who am I not to love myself?
Then the question becomes, how do I love others well today?
Am I making the needs of others important with my actions?
Am I doing anything to make sure that the basic needs of others are met?
Am I praying for others?
Do I bring joy and encouragement to others?
Am I doing anything to lighten the load for others so that maybe they can rest?
Do I see others as God’s beloved creation? Do I treat them accordingly?
Do I tell anyone that God loves them?
Am I quick to forgive others?
Do I encourage the growth of others?
Do I hold anyone accountable?
Am I quick to include others into my community?
Am I generous with praise of others?
Do I help anyone see the reasons they have to be grateful?
Today I encourage you to ask yourself…Do I really love myself? How do you know? What does that look like for you? If you don’t love yourself, then it’s time to get into the Word and figure out how much God loves you. Who are you not to love God’s beloved? (That’s you.) Ask God to show you how to love another person well. Do at least one thing to show love to someone, just for today. Because today is all you’ve got.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Do you love yourself? How do you know?
What does loving yourself look like?
How can you love another person today in a similar way to how you show love to yourself?
What could someone do for you to make you feel loved? Who could you do that same thing for someone today?