God’s Love

Duane Vander Klok

“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’” Mark 12:31

Have you ever read the command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” and thought, “that’s easy!” Or “Of course I’ll love my neighbor!” Here’s the thing though, so often we read this command and stop reading halfway through: “love your neighbor.” The command obviously doesn’t stop there though, but says: “as yourself.” So often we forget the second half of the command even though it’s probably the most important part!

You see, our thoughts drive our actions; and what thoughts are closer to us than the way in which we think about ourselves? But, the Enemy wants to chime in the moment we try to think about loving ourselves. He wants to say, “you’re just being selfish,” “you’re just full of self-pride,” and many worse things. However, there is a very important distinction: there is a difference in loving yourself from your own eyes, perspective, and successes; and loving yourself from God’s eternal perspective. One leads inwardly to selfishness, and the other leads outwardly towards others.

Let’s be honest, you were created pretty great if we look from His Kingdom Perspective! God knew you and crafted you with unique gifts, talents, and a huge potential in life. You were even molded from His image! That’s pretty amazing! Now here’s the trick, when you view, understand, and love yourself in this way, you also come to understand that this is exactly how God loves every person. Viewing and loving yourself in this way will enable you to love your neighbor in a greater way than ever before.

This week, let’s begin to understand, love, and view ourselves from the perspective of God, and further love our neighbors from this foundation.