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Home Sermons 2010 Loving yourself = Respecting & taking care of self (Part 2 of 'The Primacy of Love')
 
Loving yourself = Respecting & taking care of self (Part 2 of 'The Primacy of Love') PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

Scripture

Matthew 22:34-40

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Summary and Function

 

Summary: There are many people in this world who do not love themselves. Society teaches them they are no good and don’t deserve to be loved. When you grow up with abuse, you begin to believe you’re no good. This, of course, is a lie from Satan. DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!!

We should all love ourselves because God created us and loves us. God created us in God’s image. This gives each of us immeasurable worth. When we realize this and begin to love ourselves, we naturally begin to love others. If we expect people to respect us, we’ll begin to respect others. That’s why Jesus said, “love your neighbors as you love yourself’

Loving yourself consists of three things. They are 1) respecting yourself, 2) taking care of yourself and 3) bettering yourself. We should all seek to do these things in response to God’s love for us. As we do this, we’ll find ourselves loving our neighbors more and more.

This all begins with repentance and faith in Jesus. If you are having trouble loving yourself, turn to Jesus and trust Him to change your attitude towards yourself.

Purpose: To help the congregation to love themselves as God loves them.  

The Sermon

I. Introduction: There are many people in the world who don’t love themselves. Consider

   the following:

     1. High suicide and self mutilation rates (According to the Center for Disease Control
          at www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm)  
  • # of emergency department visits for self inflicted injuries in 2006: 594,000
  • # of successful suicides in the U.S. during 2007: 34,598
     2. According to the World Health Organization (WHO)
  • Over 1 million people around the world commit suicide every year
  • There are 10-20 million suicide attempts around the world every year
  • Suicide is 13th leading cause of death

     3. According to http://www.cosmeticplasticsurgerystatistics.com/statistics.html#2008-HIGHLIGHTS 

  • In 2008: Over 10 million surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S.
  • Since 1997: Over 162% increase in total number of cosmetic procedures
     4. Not saying that everyone who attempts suicide, mutilates himself or has cosmetic
          surgery has an issue with self-love. I do believe, however, that they indicate a
          societal problem about how well we love ourselves. 
     5. Sit back and think. Do you know any insecure people who constantly put
         themselves down, have no self-confidence and don’t take good care of
         themselves? These are the people who don’t love themselves

      6. Society is constantly telling people they are not worthy of love:

  • Not beautiful enough
  • Not skinny enough
  • Not sexy enough
  • Not manly enough
  • Not rich enough
  • Many people grow up in abusive environments where they’re taught they are no good
  • THIS IS, OFCOURSE, A LIE FROM SATAN!!!

II. God wants us to love ourselves

     1) Matthew 22:37-40: “And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with
         all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great
        and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as
        yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
     2) Can’t love others without also loving yourself – If you expect people to treat you
          with dignity and respect, you will treat others with dignity and respect. If you
          expect people to treat you poorly, then why should you treat others any
          differently?
     3) So, every person is worthy of love. What is it that makes each of us worthy of
          love?

III. We are worthy of love because God created us in His image

     1) We all are created in the image of God: Genesis 1: 26-27 says, “Then God said,
         "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion
         over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over
         all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God
         created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
         female he created them.

     2) What does it mean to be created in God’s image?

IV. Created in God’s Image

     1) Everyone is created in God’s image: Gives each of us immeasurable value

     2) The Image of God gives us the ability to choose between right and wrong and
          have a love relationship with God.
     3) The image of God was severely damaged by sin – causing us to be separated
          from God  
  • As we walk with Christ, the Holy Spirit works to fully repair/restore the Image of God to us. The Holy Spirit does this by cleansing our hearts of sinful attitudes and desires. This makes us more like Christ, who is the very image of God.
  • Mother Teresa: The Image of God was very close to being fully restored within her heart   
  • Hitler: The Image of God was almost completely and utterly destroyed within his heart.
  • Majority of people somewhere between Mother Teresa and Hitler.

     4) So, love yourself because you are created in God’s Image

V. How do you love yourself?  

     1) Respecting yourself

  • Doesn’t mean being arrogant. Doesn’t mean having a ‘chip on your shoulder’ and looking for reasons to be offended.
  • Don’t put yourself down
  • Don’t settle for a husband or wife who won’t love you and treat you with dignity and respect.

     2) Taking care of yourself

  • Physical, mental and emotional health

     3) Bettering yourself

  • Look for educational opportunities
  • Look for opportunities to grow spiritually

VI. Love for self starts with Jesus.

     1) Repent and place your trust in Jesus - begin by loving Jesus

     2) As you walk with Jesus, the Holy Spirit will change your attitude towards yourself. You'll
          begin to love yourself because God loves you.
 
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