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Maybe the answer is obvious. With some qualification, I certainly think Christians should love themselves. But the scriptures can be confusing on this account, and I think there is a long tradition of considering self-love as sinful (consider the doctrine of total depravity, or extreme asceticism).
When Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves, self-love is a given. But Jesus never goes out of his way to explain to us what love of self is. Add to that, we are told not to seek our own interests, but the interests of others (1 Cor. 10:24; Phil. 2:4). We are taught that the greatest serve the rest (Matt. 23:11), and that if we seek to save our lives we'll lose them (Luke 9:24). We are commanded to deny ourselves and take up our cross.
There doesn't seem to be a clear teaching about how to love ourselves. And yet, the implication of abundant and eternal life is that we seek what is good for ourselves. We are taught that God loves us, others are supposed to love us as they love their own selves, should we not love our selves?
What do you think? Should we love ourselves? Why or why not? What does self-love look like? Is self-love sinful or fulfillment?
When Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves, self-love is a given. But Jesus never goes out of his way to explain to us what love of self is. Add to that, we are told not to seek our own interests, but the interests of others (1 Cor. 10:24; Phil. 2:4). We are taught that the greatest serve the rest (Matt. 23:11), and that if we seek to save our lives we'll lose them (Luke 9:24). We are commanded to deny ourselves and take up our cross.
There doesn't seem to be a clear teaching about how to love ourselves. And yet, the implication of abundant and eternal life is that we seek what is good for ourselves. We are taught that God loves us, others are supposed to love us as they love their own selves, should we not love our selves?
What do you think? Should we love ourselves? Why or why not? What does self-love look like? Is self-love sinful or fulfillment?