Affirming ME!

This “leap year” day gives me the opportunity to close out this LOVE month with a conscious effort of loving and affirming ME! What??? Donna! That sure sounds braggadocious! Oh, but not so!

Hear me out! In the dictionary, “Self-Affirmation” is the recognition of the existence and value of one’s individual self. Yes, we live in a self-indulgent, it’s all about ME, self-gratification world today. Just check out all the selfies of ourselves, our family, our friends on Facebook. I’m guilty as charged.

When I’ve tried to do a selfie of my husband and me, thankfully, somone will come along and offer to take the photo for us. What about self-affirmation — that awareness of how valuable we are to God AND to ourselves? I think it’s okay because I learned long ago that my closest friend who is with me 24/7 is ME. I better like ME, because everywhere I go, I am there.

Question is “Do we love ourselves?” I mean truly, honestly love ourselves? As a teenager, I remember saying “She sure loves herself” and that was meant as a criticism. SHE was one who pranced herself around in a boastful way, who made others feel so much less than her. There’s a difference in THAT girl or guy, and the one that Jesus talked about when He said, “Love your neighbor, as you love YOURSELF.” Mark 12:31

I hear life coaches encourage self-affirmation: “Look in the mirror and say to yourself….’I love you’!” I agree with that philosophy. How can we truly love others if we don’t love ourselves?

It’s not that easy to love ourselves, especially, as Christians, when we’re truly seeking to be humble. The truth is, only those who feel good about who they are, can really express humility. It takes someone who loves him/herself to acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers.

We can love ourselves, and come across as sincere, authentic, real, AND humble. Rick Warren says: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.” It doesn’t mean we don’t care for ourselves, but it does mean we think of others AS MUCH as we think of ourselves.

Maybe you and I can start a love fest with ourselves by putting up some post it notes on our mirror that helps us out with the compliments: “I love YOU”…….”I trust you”……”I am so proud of you”……”I appreciate you”…..”You are strong”……”God loves you”…..”You can do all things through Christ Who strengthens you.” ….”You are a conqueror!”

This graphic looks like it is for students. I like that. Helping young people be aware of how amazing they are and what they can do! I think it’s exactly what we all need.

Let’s go ahead and love ourselves. We’ve been given permission from our Father to rise and shine with the love for ourselves so we can amp up the love for our neighbors.