In the month of February, when everyone is celebrating Valentines, as a Christian SEELE's Faith Editor, KB Chakela took a moment to pause on what God’s love means to her, and how that allows her to love herself

Let’s explore self-love, and what that means to the believer.  What is “self-love”?

“Self-Care Sundays” has become a very prominent term in the media and in social media, people are encouraged to prioritise their own well-being and happiness, and so the messaging lately is really around self-love and self-care, one of my cousins calls it the “oxygen mask theory”, akin to the instructions given by flight attendants on every flight.  In the event of an emergency, it’s advised to don your own oxygen mask before assisting others. 

To love God is to also love God in me, it is not vanity, it is not arrogance, and it is also not self-care which many confuse with self-love.

We cannot separate God’s love from the love of self, because if God loves me, then who am I not to love me, and don’t get me wrong, I am not referring to self-love in the narcissistic manner of loving self- which mostly focuses on self-importance- I mean loving yourself in a way that shows self-acceptance, grace, patience, taking care of your body, etc. One of the most quoted Scriptures on love is from the book of 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7. The Apostle Paul also speaks about comprehending the love of God which passes knowledge, and is endless (read Ephesians 3:18-19). John chapter 3 speaks about God loving so much that He paid the greatest price as an expression of that love, and so if we are called to love, as he loves that it only makes sense that you are to include yourself in the quest to love as Christ loved.

In order to have a successful faith walk, cultivating self-love is paramount, recognising and understanding that God’s love is the foundation of self-love is key.  What we need to understand as believers is that it is impossible to have hate for one-self because we understand the love that God has for us. It is impossible to hate what God loves. Not only does God love me and you, Jesus Christ dying on the cross was an expression of that Love, because God gave and paid the highest price for two things: it was an outward expression, a message of love, the greatest love story ever written, but not only that, it was God reconciling us to that love.

And so, we answer this by asking more questions: what would ‘self-care Sundays’ be without church, what would self-love be without the author of love? Knowing that God loves me so deeply, allows me to see myself through His eyes and I appreciate myself more, and I know that I am worthy of that love.

Make the decision to truly love yourself today, the fruit of that will be a deeper relationship with our Lord, better relationships with friends and family, and for the singles, when you love self, you will be able to discern Christ like love when you meet “the one.”