I love me.

“What is wrong with you,” you might ask me for saying this to myself: “I love me. Yes, all of me. Me, I and, self, all three in one.”

I love me because Jesus sent His one and only begotten Son to die for me and my sins on the cross.

~”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”~John 3:16, ESV~

After spending an entire week at work, I decided to go and get my nails painted at a nail salon. They look very beautiful because of the cherry blossom designs that are so intricately painted on my finger nails.

Even though God did not create nail polish, He did create hands. My hands, to be a blessing to the people around me: with His great love for the people.

The lives that God allows me to love are a reflection of myself. Self. Yes, self. I would not love self if I did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I would not love myself if I did not have Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I would not love myself if I did not love Jesus Christ. Period.

~”If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all the mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”~1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NIV~

Love. The perfect love that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ starts with God and enters straight into the heart of myself: self. These hands that God gave me and blessed me with are to be a blessing for others as they enter into the Kingdom of God. Whether I give my best friend a hug, or high-five a child, or assist an elderly person, these hands are meant to work for the Kingdom of God that is in Christ Jesus!

People cannot know what the love of God is if you choose to not allow that same love to come from yourself. People cannot know what the love of God is if you choose to not love others as you would love yourself. You must LOVE, LOVE, and, LOVE more to the world so that those of the world can enter into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. THAT is the whole point of LOVE: to bring the lost into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ!

~”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.”~1 Corinthians 13:4-10, NIV~

When one chooses to enter into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ out of pure and genuine love for God, then that is when when can experience not only the love of God, but love for self and grow. That follower of Christ can fully mature and reach the potential that he or she has in his or her relationship with Jesus Christ the more that he or she falls in love with himself or herself. This is how one reaches maturity. 

~”When I was a child, I talked like a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror: then shall we see face to face. Now I know in part; then shall I know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, love. But the greatest of these if love.”~1 Corinthians 13:11-13, NIV~

I can definitely say for myself that I have not reached full maturity in my growing relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, I will not reach that potential until I go to heaven to be with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This fact goes for other followers of Christ, who are reading this blog post. 
I leave this blog post to encourage you, dear reader, to keep on growing in your relationship with God. Keep on loving God. Keep on allowing Jesus Christ to transform your life. And keep on emitting the love of God that is in Christ Jesus to others (friends and family) around you. Don’t stop loving and be that witness of the love of God from self to the world around you today! Love yourself! 

I now want to end this blog post in a prayer for you, dear reader, as you walk in your relationship with the Lord and continue to love yourself today!:

Dear God,

Thank You for the reader, who took the time to open up this blog post and read it. Thank You that he or she is allowing the love of Christ to renew his or her mind as he or she transforms through the power of  Your Word. Thank You that he or she is in full acceptance of himself or herself as he or she continues to walk in full step with You today. May each reader take away the truths that are of Your Word and learn to love themselves today. May they accept that it is ok to love themselves because You first loved us, In Your precious and Holy Name. Do not let any of these readers sub come to lies or the enemy, because the enemy is a liar and a deceiver of self. Empower each reader to love himself or herself today and to give that same love that is in Your Word to those in and of this world. May each reader go forth in peace today. I give You all of the glory, the honor, and the praise.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen!

May God bless you and keep you in His love today. Stay encouraged! 🙂