Slow Burn - Pt 3

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31 ESV). A second principle in preventing the “slow burn” of emotional distress is to love and be loved. This requires a healthy understanding of appropriate self-love. There is no doubt that Jesus indicated that loving ourselves correctly is a foundation for loving others appropriately. It is a truth that we treat others in the same way we treat ourselves. If I am uncertain about my worth, I will be uncertain about the worth of others. A lack of self-love is seen as the root of all sorts of issues ranging from depression to bullying to self-destructive behavior.

As you can see from the picture of our dog, Teddy, he is unique. The vet seems to think that most of his pedigree is that of a Norfolk Terrier. I’m sure we could do the genetic testing to get a more definitive makeup of his heritage; however, that wouldn’t change who he is. He simply is Teddy. We found him one day at PetsMart with a terrier rescue group who was there offering some of the intakes for adoption. Why anyone would have abandoned him is still a mystery to us. He is a terrier. However, he has proven to be a loveable, loyal companion to us since we adopted him. The point I’m making is that while he has every reason to doubt that anyone might love him, he simply loves us unconditionally. There is within him an unshakeable consistency to who he is. That character makes him who he is, not the rejection he received early in his life. I think there is an illustration there for us. It is true that a part of our nature requires solitude and a substantial rugged individualism. But this isn’t the whole story of our nature. We feel happier, warmer and better, live longer, and experience life as more meaningful if we love and let ourselves be loved. We must be individuals but we must also relate. To do both, to both be ourselves and relate, requires that we acknowledge that we are absolutely eternally loved by our heavenly Father. Whether we have been wanted and loved by others in the past or not, we are loved by Him. This produces a healthy worth that can spill over into the lives of others. As that happens, our circumstance and challenge begins to fade in the background. We renew our minds and transform our lives through loving ourselves and loving others.