Greetings
Today’s Holy Nougat requires a while for digestion. I pray God’s coverage as we absorb it.
“For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” Galatians 5:14 NLT
Of course, that presumes that we love ourselves. And sometimes, that is a very great presumption. When we think of the many emotionally wounded, of the many who’ve undergone physical, emotional, mental, verbal or even spiritual abuse, we realise that there are lots of walking wounded who are trying to create other broken vessels.
Not every broken soul has a discernible M.O. (modus operandi). Some stay below the human radar and only show their true nature when the mask is present. Can you imagine – it takes a mask to remove the mask. Others clearly have no love for the neighbour ( like many of us who air and wear our prejudices publicly, thinking we have the ‘right’s to discriminate against the other person, and that it makes us better than them).
But what about the abusers, the ones who are nice to the neighbours, but not to their households? What about us when we are intentionally hurtful to friends and family, while being nice to others? Does that mean we don’t love ourselves? I think the best litmus test is found in the question – ‘Am I offering the best of me, and would I wish to be treated in like manner?’ And if we begin to sense that check in our spirit from the Holy Spirit, we just might not be acting from a position of love.
Lastly, when we take the Love Test (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), how do we measure up in applying it to how we treat ourselves?
Before we love our neighbours, we first gotta love ourselves.
Good morning
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
