Mark 12:31 The second (commancment) is this: you shall love your neighbors as yourself. There is no other commandments greater than these.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus said in both of these verses that the second greatest commandment is loving others AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF. How can we love others if we don’t know how to love ourselves? But we are not love ourselves in the world’s way. We are not to be self-centered, prideful, or arrogant, etc. We are to love ourselves from God’s perception of us — Who we are in Christ!! In other words, are we part of His body? Are we His family? This is how we are to see ourselves!! A part of the greatest family on earth — God’s FAMILY!!
Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.
The Holy Spirit witnesses to us that we are the children of the Living God. We are apart of God’s family. We are His heirs of the Kingdom of God here on earth and into eternity. We are children of the King of the Universe!!!
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may declare the goodness of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 10 In times past, you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
We are a chosen people from the foundation of the world. God chose us to be His people at this moment of time. We are a royal priesthood. We are children of the King, therefore we are royal. We are the body to the High Priest Jesus, therefore we are of the priesthood. And because of Jesus, we have the authority of God as His children to decree and declare His Word into the atmosphere. We are God’s chosen people (Israel and the Church) and He loves each one of us. How do I know that? Because He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins and to heal the consequences of those sins. Now we are in the family of God.
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? Do you not know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? 20 You were brought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
We are to love ourselves as God sees us. He sees us cleansed because of the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross. We were bought by the precious shedded Blood of the Lamb of God which is Jesus and we are no longer our own, We are the property of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. He sees us as His Temple, where He dwells and resides here on earth.
1 Peter 1:18 For you know that you were not redeemed from your vain way of life inherited from your fathers with perishable things, like silver or gold; 19 but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with out spot.
We are redeemed and cleansed by the precious Blood of the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus, the Son of God. Because we are God’s Temple we are to guard ourselves from all sin. we are to walk in Jesus’ righteousness NOT our own, resist the devil and his temptations, and fill our Temple with holiness by not sinning.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new.
How do all things become new? We let the Lord God have His way in cleansing us – His Temple and we let Him take out ALL the trash of sins and the consequences of them. And then heal those areas. This is in the soul realm.
Our job is to allow God to have His way in the soul realm. Let Him and Him only take control of the soul. We that are His are no longer alive without Him. Therefore, He is alive in our souls and bodies. Our job is to take care of the cleansed Temple and not let the devil back in and screw everything up! We follow the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit and walk where He tells us to go.
Our earthy job taking care of the Temple is by doing these tasks:
Personal Hygiene (Beauty – inside and outside)
Eating Right God’s Way – His nutrition – Biblical nutrition as stated in His Word in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. We will have a more detail discussion later about this topic.
Exercising to maintaining a strong healthy body, such as walking and mild weight training.
Proverbs 31:17 She clothes herself with strength, and strengthens her arms.
We need to be strong in our bodies in order to be strong to do the things that the Lord God has asked us to for Him and His Kingdom.
Take Vitamins and Supplements if needed
1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
We are to glorify God with our eating, drinking, and the things we do. We are to keep ourselves holy and set apart for God’s service and pleasure; not for our own.
Rest for the Day / Sleep for 6-8 hours
Genesis 2:1 So the heavens and the earth, and all their hosts, were finished. 2 On the seventh day God complete His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then Gid blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made.
Exodus 31: 12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, You must surely keep My Sabbaths for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations that you know the I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who defies it will surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that person will be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done, but on the seventh is the Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day will surely be put to death.
Mark 6:30 The apostles met with Jesus and told Him everything both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 Then He said to them, Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest a while, for many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 So they went into a remote place privately by boat.
The Sabbath day of rest is important for man to stop and rest from all work. We need this rest to reset our bodies and our souls for the coming activity of the next week. On the Sabbath we are also to sit and be in God’s Presence not for His sake but for ours. It is the sake of our souls that we need to be in the Presence of God. We need to be connected to the Lord God in order to do the things that please the Lord God.
Mental – Confess our sins to the Father in Jesus’ Name, Pray for a Sound mind and for the mind of Christ
One way to be holy is to confess our sins to the Lord God and ask for His forgiveness.
Psalm 32:5 I acknowledge my sin in You, and my iniquity I did not conceal. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Emotional – We should be at peace with God the Father and enjoy the fruit of Holy Spirit
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 meekness, and self-control; against such there is no law. 24 Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Once we confess our sins, we are to walk with the Spirit to help us to stay on the path God has illuminated for us to walk on. We are to crucify our flesh – our bodies and souls – from the passions and the lusts they have. We are to give the Lord God these bodies and souls in order to be our Lord. He is suppose to be the One in control.
Journaling – We should write about what we talk to God about and His responses. We should write about our emotions and our mental state for our mental health. We also journal about our Gratitude and Thanksgiving to God for anything and everything.
If we cannot be healthy in body or mind how can you be used by God? No connection with God causes problems for there is no life coming though from the Vine which is Jesus to you the branch if there is no connection or fellowship with God.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world, if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 The world and its desires are passing away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I bring and keep my body under subjection, lest when preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
We are not to love the world and what it promises to us. We are to be the Father’s possession and property, having nailed our lust and pride to the Cross of Jesus. We are to put our bodies under subjection of the Lord Jesus and let Him have control.
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?
If we truly want to be Jesus’ disciples, then we must deny ourselves meaning we give the Lord Jesus control of us. We take up our cross – our sacrifice – and follow the Lord wherever He leads. Following Jesus profits our souls, but if we gain the world, we will lose our soul.
In conclusion, believe in what God has said about you, for He loves you… He means it! We need to take care and be good to ourselves in order to be good and faithful disciples for the Lord Jesus Christ.