The second great
commandment tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. In other words, treat
those around you the way you treat yourself.
I can’t imagine we’d ever
actually treat our friends and neighbors the way we sometimes treat ourselves.
Think of the things we allow ourselves to tell us:
“Ugh. Those pants don’t fit
like they used to, do they?”
“Why can’t you keep up?”
“I bet if you walked out
the door right now it would be days before anyone noticed you were gone or
needed you for anything.”
And on. And on.
Can you really ever imagine
speaking that way to someone else?
With a hurtful personal
internal dialogue, no wonder it feels good to say and do nice things to and for
others. It’s a break from all the negativity we have going on between our ears!
But oh how much better –
how much more good we might accomplish – if the love we give comes as an
extension of the love we have for ourselves. How much more good we can do when
the light in our eyes and love in our hearts pours out of us in confidence!
Start now to change the tone
of the voice that is negative and hateful inside of you.
Speak to yourself the way
the Savior would.
Is it possible He would
point out an area where we need to improve? Of course! But can you even imagine
him using words that were derogatory, belittling or full of disdain?
Not ever.
The Savior tells us, “you
can do better and I can help you”.
It will take focus and
conscious effort to battle the voice we’ve allowed to tell us terrible things
for so long.
But we can do it.
What will you tell yourself
in love today?
xoxo
