Thoughts from Chapter 7 - Love Yourself
My father loved to eat but just did not like going to a buffet because there were too many choices - he would always overeat. I use the analogy of a buffet in how we sometimes allow others to treat us who say they love us - we give them so many choices in how to treat us and how to make us feel loved. I call it 'pot luck' love - you just sort of Iive life and take that which comes along. I say that until you first learn how to love yourself, it will become difficult for others to love you the way you deserve and desire to be loved. If you asked that person to bring you some food from that buffet, you would not say just bring me whatever you see. You would be very specific, bring me this type of meat, this type of vegetable. So why do we accept any less when it comes to how we allow others to show love towards us. Stop being in love with love and pay attention. Stop accepting any type of treatment in the name of love. Love is not supposed to hurt. It really is ok for you to love yourself. I am not speaking to selfishness, arrogance, showboating, and pride.
Let me be real, most of us desire companionship in some form. However, most people believe that it will take someone else or some things to make them feel loved. How can you portray or convey to someone else those actions that make you feel loved if you yourself do not know? If God lives on the inside of you, loving yourself is an expression of loving God. Some of you have been beat down so much and told that you would never amount to anything that you are almost afraid to love yourself. Change that. Don't wait for someone else to take you to a fine restaurant, take yourself and pamper yourself.
You are not an accident and God planned every detail of you - your looks, your hair, your eyes, even your race. God does not make junk but He creates precious jewels, rubies, and diamonds. If he thought enough of you and loved you enough to give up his ONLY son, surely you can prove to him that this sacrifice was worth it by caring for and loving yourself. When others see how you carry yourself they will approach you differently; when they see how you love yourself, they will love you differently. Love yourself.