When I was a child, my first church experience out of the children’s room and in the auditorium was a Thanksgiving service at my branch Church of Christ, Scientist. I was thrilled to sit with my parents, the adults. When the time came for testimonies of gratitude, I stood up and said, “Thank you, God, for loving me.”
Sometimes I still find this childlike acceptance of God’s love for me the most powerful prayer I can utter in moments of despair and self-condemnation. It can be tempting to think that qualities such as generosity, compassion, and unselfishness are mainly associated with love for others. But we ourselves are also included in the biblical commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. The book of Mark records Christ Jesus explaining it this way: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (12:29–31).
The point that we ourselves are included in the second commandment Jesus mentions has implications for our sense of purpose, our health, our Christianity, our very life. How important, then, to realize that the essential Christly qualities of meekness and humility do not exclude seeing our own value and worth. They are actually the basis for us to boldly declare daily how infinitely loved and important we are, and they empower us to fulfill our divine purpose and experience health and harmony in the most practical and permanent terms.
