A few days ago a friend of mine put up a blog post about self love. In it, she mentioned that if she had been loving herself properly, she would not be overweight, she would be more organized when it came to her daily schedule and life goals, and she wouldn't keep a messy home. It got me to thinking about 1 Corinthians 3:16:
16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
As a Christ follower, I sometimes get caught up in the outward message of "Loving God and Loving others", sometimes forgetting that its important to love myself as well. Loving ourselves isn't selfish, its really just maintaining the purity of God's temple aka His dwelling place. Think about it, if God put you in charge of the upkeep of His house, wouldn't you make sure it was always spotless, well-run, without garbage and presentable? The same goes for how we treat our bodies. Exercising frequently to maintain a healthy weight, eating healthy foods, taking time out to rejuvenate, and even being careful of what we allow our minds to absorb: extremely negative words and destructive images: all are ways to respect and cherish ourselves while at the same time honoring God. If we behaved as if God were with us all of the time (because just face it, He is), our lives would be vastly different. God considers us worthy enough to make our bodies His dwelling place. Treat it and Him with the reverence and respect they deserve.
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