By Sophia Bethel Gibson (2019)
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
Self-love is not to be confused with vanity. To love yourself is understanding where you come from and how you were fashioned. It is seeing yourself from the perspective of your Maker and walking in that truth. This kind of self-love, untainted with pride and arrogance, and undefiled with the outward appearance, is the place from which God expects us to love others also. The scripture says to love others as we love ourselves, therefore, we must first know what self-love looks like.
Psalm 139:13-18, informs us about how we were made and the detail of God’s skillful love design in our lives, which gives us an idea of how He sees us and how we should see ourselves. Being made in His image and likeness is no small thing since He is the Almighty, Supreme and sovereign Being. God took His time to form us and scriptures tells us that the work of God on us was wonderful and fearful-that is, to be in awe of. When you are in awe of the love God has for you, then you begin to ask questions such as, “Who am I that you are mindful?” This leads to the light of God’s truth that you are valuable, created with the ability to impact His Kingdom and etched with His identity.
Self-love is birthed in the knowledge of the Father’s love for you and His plan for your life. When we love others from that same perspective, we decrease sins such as envy, jealousy, idolatry, and covetousness from our hearts because our love is undefiled. To love yourself is to know the love of the Father for you. To love others is to first love yourself from God’s perspective. Your substance mattered and in your unfinished state, you were already beautiful in His eyes. Love yourself, even when you are undone.
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