How To Know The Lesson Of The Shema & Self-Love

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Self-love can be defined as anything from the proper regard for and attention to one’s own well-being to inflated love or pride a.k.a. narcissism.

Wikipedia says it can be considered a basic human necessity or a moral flaw.

Psych Central focuses on the positive saying…

“Self-love means that you accept yourself fully, treat yourself with kindness and respect, and nurture your growth and well-being. Self-love encompasses not only how you treat yourself but also your thoughts and feelings about yourself.”

A little research reveals that countless words have been written on the subject and even among followers of Jesus there’s a saying that goes…

“You can’t love others well until you love yourself.“

I believe it’s based on Jesus’ repeating the second half of the Shema…

“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

Matthew 22:39

The Shema is the central prayer and command of the Jewish faith, (pronounced “shmah” and found in Deuteronomy 6:4–9).

When Jesus was asked about the Greatest Commandment, He added to the Shema command to “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,” a directive to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Matthew 22:37–39 and Mark 12:29:31.)

And that seems to be the source of the commonly held belief that we can’t love our neighbors well until we love ourselves well.

The thing is, I don’t believe Jesus was talking about warm fuzzy feel-good about-yourself love.

In Luke 10, Jesus asks a religious leader—an “expert in the law” what the law of Moses said was the “way to eternal life.”

The man answered with the Shema … a summary of the Commandments, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:29

Jesus responded, “Right! Do this and you will live!”

This prompted the man to ask, “Who is my neighbor?”

And Jesus answered his question with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. You can read it in Luke 10:30–37.

Jesus didn’t tell him to go to a spa, take an afternoon to read a good book, or go out for lunch. He didn’t tell him that he needed to feel good about himself so that he could help others feel good themselves.

He told a story about the blessing of taking care of each other. We have no idea what kind of day the Samaritan was having or if he was feeling especially great about himself. But we do know he stopped thinking about himself and the day he was having to help an injured man.

I’ve learned the more time I spend thinking about myself, good or bad, the less time I have to care for others … and the worse I feel about myself. The more I think about loving myself the less I have loving feelings about myself.

But when I set aside “self” and focus on loving and caring for the people around me, I feel happier, more satisfied, and fulfilled.

Paul wrote…

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 2:3–4

The Lord wants us to follow the example of the Good Samaritan but I believe we can also see ourselves in the injured man on the side of the road. We are the ones who needed Jesus to rescue and save us.

So, we love our neighbors because we are loved and saved by God’s grace…

God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Ephesians 2:9–10

Let’s pray…

A Prayer to Live The Shema

Father God, You love perfectly and completely. Love is who You are and what You do. You saw us helpless on the side of the road and You saved us. And by Your grace, You invite us into a loving relationship that lasts forever.

You built love into Your creation. You love us and You want us to love one another. Wow, do we mess that up! Please forgive us. Please forgive me.

I believe that when You told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, You want us to see ourselves and others through Your heart of love. You call us precious, cherished, and forgiven.

You call me Your child. I don’t deserve it and I can’t earn it but in response, I love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. You alone are the Lord of my life and it’s my heart’s desire to glorify You by loving others.

Please help me live the Shema by trusting and obeying Your will with a heart full of humility and love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I often think about how amazing heaven will be. Not only will we be with our Savior face to face but we will live forever in the presence of His perfect love.

He invites us to have just a taste of that now.

That’s the Shema and that’s why He told us to…

Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

Deuteronomy 6:7

As the world preaches a steady message of self-love, may you and I live the blessing of the Shema by loving the Lord with all we are and loving our neighbor as He desires.

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