I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about this topic, especially Ephesians 5:29 (ESV) from yesterday's post.
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
I know that everything the bible says is true, therefore this is true. So I looked at a few commentaries this morning and none of them really explain it in a way that answers my questions about self-love, but, I did realize that I took it out of context. I try really hard to look at the surrounding text before posting a bible verse but thought this was pretty self-explanatory on its own and I was running late yesterday, so, yeah, there you go.
The passage is about men loving their wives as Christ loves the church:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Regarding verse 29, David Guzik wrote on
Enduringword.com:
Any man in his right mind is going to take care of his own flesh, even if it is just in the sense of feeding and clothing and caring for his own body. He knows that if he doesn’t, he is going to suffer for it. In the same way, once we know the Biblical fact of this unity, if we are in our right minds we will nourish and cherish our wives because she is part of us.
What kept me awake about this verse standing on its own is that I know a handful of people who will tell you that they do not like themselves. So then I wonder, if you don't like yourself, can you still love yourself? Can you love others if you don't love yourself? Can you love Christ who created you if you don't love yourself? Or, does it keep you from accepting Christ's love? Does it chisel a void between you and others, you and Him? These are things I'm looking into. (If you have any thoughts on any of this, drop me a comment, or IM me, or email or text, etc...) While I research this, remember always:
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 ESV
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Please join me this week in praying for our individual selves and for us as the collective Church. May we realize our worth and responsibilities as children of God, being created in His image. May we go to Him even in the midst of our guilt and shame so that He may forgive us of our sins, help us to be more Christlike, and grow in our faith and obedience.
I'll post daily reminders on:
#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #selflove #self #shame #guilt #selfesteem
