You Cannot Truly Love Until You Love Yourself.

[ironmonk]

If you notice, I was refering to what psychiatrists and Oprah call self love.

When you use a different definition, it's a whole other story.


God Bless,
ironmonk

[traichuoi]

[quote name='ironmonk' date='May 3 2004, 10:55 AM'] If you notice, I was refering to what psychiatrists and Oprah call self love.

When you use a different definition, it's a whole other story.


God Bless,
ironmonk [/quote]
true!

[XIX]

[quote name='ironmonk' date='May 3 2004, 11:55 AM'] If you notice, I was refering to what psychiatrists and Oprah call self love.

When you use a different definition, it's a whole other story.


God Bless,
ironmonk [/quote]
Well, I totally agree with you on that.

"Love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself." It's the greatest commandment.

[CreepyCrawler]

true. so i agree with phatcatholic, disagree with oprah and lumber (sorry i'm a treehugger but i put God and others and my Church above trees... but then i'm a rabid environmentalist)

[Dave]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='May 3 2004, 11:12 AM'] ironmonk,

i'm gonna have to disagree w/ u brother. you seem to equate self-love with self-centeredness or selfishness, but that's not what self-love [i]truly[/i] is. it will help here to provide my coneptualization of [i]true [/i]self-love:

[b]self-love:[/b] when man totally embraces the fact that he is made in the image in likeness of God, that through his baptism he has become a child of God, that b/c he is a child of God and was made by God, he has an inherent dignity as a person that no man, and not even himself, can take away, that he is loved by God for all eternity and that God will never turn his back on him.

that is self-love as i see it. and whereas you see "self-love" as inherently self-centered, i see self-love as inherently humble, inherently "others-centered." why? because, when a person finally grasps what it means to be a child of God, when he has self-love as i define it, then he cannot help but be humbled! he is in awe of the love and acceptance he has received by God even though he doesn't deserve it. it likewise compels him to love others as God has loved him.

"love one another as i have loved you."

yet, we cannot love others until we fully grasp the love that God has for us. i say self-love is recognizing and accepting the love that God has for us:

--recognizing, b/c many people don't even know that God loves them, nor the degree to which he loves them.

--accepting, b/c there are likewise many people who know of this love of God for his people, but do not accept it. they have been degraded, or have degraded themselves to a point that they truly believe that not even God would embrace them. how can man love others when he doesn't know God's love for himself?

put another way:

[b]self-centeredness [/b]is looking at one's own depravity and saying, "there is something wrong w/ me. i must increase myself"

[b]self-love[/b] is looking at one's own depravity and saying, "there is indeed something wrong w/ me.... but that is ok, b/c God loves me nontheless, and it is my duty to love others just the same."

hopefully i have made my point w/o being too repetitive. pax christi,
phatcatholic [/quote]
Yes!

[MrsFrozen]

Ironmonk, I agree with you. Oprah's, and many other feminists', idea to stop putting ourselves last is selfish. The Bible teaches us to put ourselves last.

However, I'm going to look at it at a different angle for a moment. I used to struggle with major self-esteem issues and a lack of confidence. It was hard for me to show love to others, especially my husband. Since I have become a Christian, I no longer struggle with these problems, and my relationship with my husband could not be better. I want to make things great for him more now than I ever did. So if I look at it from that angle, then yes, loving myself as a child of God has helped me to love others.

Unfortunately, I believe that the real message behind Oprah's idea is probably a selfish love, such as deserving and expecting time for yourself, to be able to do the things you want, putting your needs first, etc.

God bless.

[traichuoi]

wow...I forgot about this...great posting.

[Paddington]

Awesome thread.
We have to be careful about what we say to whom about this topic. That is for sure. That distinction of good/bad "self-love" is not obvious all the time. I have come away with a bad impression from many things I have heard/read about this topic.

[SJRod55]

'Self Love' or 'Self Adoration' is a compulsive disorder for some. I have seen quite a few teenagers interestingly enough boys as well as girls who go through a stage where they are totally obsessed with their own appearance to the point of self adoration. Often times they are totally unaware of the depth of their 'interest'

[Anastasia13]

Could it be said that we cannot truly love until we understand the love that God has for His children including us?

[Proud2BCatholic139]

I always saw it as, loving yourself not in a material way, but in a spiritual way. Loving our bodies under the grace of God and putting God first. As our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. We must love and take care of ourselves.
I agree that love yourself is not to materially buy yourself things.

I always think of J.O.Y.

Jesus, Others, then Yourself.

But, remember, to love yourself spiritually. Live chastely. God gave you a body, and God's gifts are good. God gave us love to show love. If we don't love ourselves, how are we supposed to express love?