Loving Myself

I have a real difficulty with this one. You would think that being selfish (which comes easily for me) and loving yourself would be synonymous, but they are opposed to each other. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. This implies that we must love ourselves in order to love our neighbor. So, how do I love myself more? I can't just snap my fingers and love myself more. Can I? Our emotions are so intricately tied to this issue. I need to love myself, without having a sinful pride about myself. Hmmm...this sounds crazy to me. I'm still trying to figure this one out. I know it's true, but to live it out is tough. This is no small issue. In order to be able to love God and others better, I need to be able to love myself. The Bible says that we love God because He first loved us (I John 4:19). That makes it pretty clear that our love for God is made possible because of His love for us. But what about our love for ourselves? Where does it fall in the sequence of learning to love. I think that it is shaped early on in our lives. In my brokenness, however, I find it difficult to love myself...so perhaps my love for God has been less than I thought over the years. I'm growing in this area...and I know it's only by His grace that this is possible. Okay: don't be sinfully prideful about yourself, but make sure you love yourself. I think this is a foundational key for any and all love you will ever have for God and others. Loving yourself is critical for establishing and developing healthy relationships. The journey continues...