Loving me
On a late-night talk show many years ago, the host asked Arnold Schwarzenegger, what it was that he did for fun and enjoyment? His response made me laugh out loud before it stunned me. He said, “you know, I really enchoy BEING ME!” “Bah, ha, ha! What an ego maniac,” I thought. Then it penetrated, “I should be saying that?”
We have two commandments. “Love God with all your heart … and love your neighbor as yourself ” (KJV). The loving yourself part is overlooked, even decried as being unspiritual but it is clearly essential to fulfilling God’s order. But in truth It’s a significant part of health and soundness of personality..
Insecurity, self-consciousness and the need for validation can cripple the ability to focus on others. Loving yourself represents the opposite of these dysfunctions. What matters, is what we do with healthy self-esteem. God would have us translate it into love for others and not egotism. Without self-love, our “inbox” will always be more important to us than our”sent” list. Jim Carry, the ultimate extrovert, said it like this, “Rrisk being seen! Your armor and need for acceptance can make you invisible to the world.”
Christlike character is the goal of life. The Sermon on The Mount, which enumerates it, is not the Mr. Universe contest, or fame, or a thousand other outward deceptions that are marketed as happiness. Christ ascribed happiness to each beatitude, “happy (blessed) are the poor in spirit,” “blessed are the meek,”and so on. Christlikeness is true happiness. It transcends everything, therefore it is for everyone, not just an idolized, privileged few.
Play the hand you’re dealt
Don’t resent the dealer and don’t “fold um.” If played right, the hand you’ve been dealt in life will reveal the unique happiness and purpose that’s yours alone. Playing it right sounds like this;
“And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.” [3]
No “misdeal” and no “re-deal.” Loving God with all your heart means loving what He made. If we don’t like ourselves, we’ll have a problem with the one who made us. Most people spend their lives trying to be something they’re not, or wishing they were somebody else. Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
Some find it strange to hear me talk like this knowing what I’ve been through. But I know what I have received for the trouble. It’s all interior, and intimate, beauty for ashes. Today I wouldn’t trade places with anybody, not even Arnold, because the real Mr. Universe is Jesus. And because of the Jesus within, “I really enjoy being me!” Col.1:27
[1] Lk.10:27 [2] Matt.5-7 [3] Rom.8:28-9