All of our lives we have all been taught that we should love one another. We have been taught this in our homes, by our churches, and in our schools. We have been taught that it is the key to our happiness and that it will bring peace to the world. While this is completely true and a very valuable lesson to learn, we often leave one person out, ourselves. Many of us have never been taught that we should love ourselves. My grandma once told me that we can never love someone until we first love ourselves. When she told me this, I realized that I had really never thought about loving myself. As the years have gone by, I have realized how important this is. God does want us to love others. He thinks it is very important, but He wants us to love ourselves too. After all, He created us and if we do not love ourselves, it makes Him very sad.

Many of us have been taught that if we love ourselves too much that we will become conceited and only think about ourselves. We obviously want to avoid that, but there is nothing wrong with loving yourself and thinking that you are a good person. We are supposed to be an example to the rest of the world. We are supposed to show others how to live by example. How can we do that if we do not love ourselves?

We are often our own worst critic. We never think what we do is good enough. We never think we look good enough, work hard enough, or are talented enough. God made us in His image, and He gave all of us unique and wonderful qualities that He did not give anyone else. He wants us to use those qualities and gifts to serve Him and our fellow man. When we go around being critical of ourselves and thinking that we do not measure up, we cannot be a service to God or others. Often God will ask us to do things to serve Him or other people. If we do not have the confidence that we should, we will not listen to Him or in many cases we will tell him that we are not capable of doing what He is asking us to do. When we do not obey the voice of God when He speaks to us, we are not only denying someone else a blessing, but we are missing out on a blessing ourselves.

You see when we follow God and do what He asks He will bless us. So, if we do not love ourselves and feel confident in our abilities, we cannot be of service to others. Sometimes God asks us to do things that are difficult for us. He wants to challenge us because through those challenges, we grow. It builds our confidence, and it helps us appreciate the gifts that we have. We realize that we do have a purpose and that God can and will use us to serve Him, help others, and in turn help ourselves.

So, the next time you are feeling like you are not good enough or you feel your confidence failing, look yourself in the mirror and say, “God created me in His own image. He has given me gifts and talents that no one else has, and I can be a service to God and my fellow man.” I believe that if we can do this and really believe it, it will make us better people. It will put us in a better position to answer God’s call, which will bring us joy and peace, and PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~