In the late 1990s I was practically obsessed with obtaining Sampler CDs. I loved discovering new and obscure music, so I picked up as many as possible. And the fact they were substantially cheaper than regular CDs didn’t hurt either.
Some of the Samplers were awful, but many were good. One in particular impacted me more than I realized. The album artwork is fuzzy and the band’s name long gone, but the chorus of one song still rings in my head and make me think: you must love yourself before anybody else can.
For whatever reason, I’ve never fully understood this phrase. But think I have finally stumbled across the answer: our beliefs impact our actions.
While this may seem straightforward, really think about it. You say you believe things, but do you really believe them? You say you love things, but do you truly?
When you really, truly believe something, your belief turns into an action. This is exactly James’ point in James 2:14: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him?” (NIV)
You believe God loves you, but do you really believe it? You need know this is true because, as 1 John 4:19 says, we love because He first loved us. We’re also told to love our neighbours as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). If we don’t believe God loves us, we can’t love Him. And if we do not love ourselves, we cannot love our neighbours.
Therefore, our love for others is also directly impacted by how much we believe God loves us—since your life reflects your belief, and flows out of every part of you, what you think about God impacts your thoughts, words, and deeds.
If you find yourself thinking “But I’ve done too much to separate myself from God,” know this is not truth. Nothing, nothing, can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:35-40). It may not make sense, but that doesn’t make it untrue. God loves you. And you need to really, truly believe this so your faith will be living, active, and effective.
Like Chuck Swindoll says in his message, The Love of God, “If we shape our thinking from the culture around us, our life will remain complicated and even become chaotic. But if we allow Holy Scripture to shape our thinking, God will emerge in our minds as He is: real, meaningful, all-powerful. What we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Let God and His love become real to you today.
What ways has God shown His love to you? Is there a particular experience you had that helped you understand love in a new way?
By Robyn Roste
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