"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Trusting in the Lord is more than human trust—it is trusting that He won’t let you down when you call on His name to help you. Trust Him in all things, and surrender everything—both the good and the bad—to Him, and He will help you. He will give you a life filled with meaning and purpose, designed to bring Him glory and for your own good. Psalm 125 says, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.” What a promise!
The Lord surrounds us forever if we trust in Him with all our hearts and everything we have. Trust Him with the little things, trust Him with the big things, and follow Him. Be obedient to His commands: love Him with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love others as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).
Do you love yourself? Do you love yourself enough to give up your addictions and fight with the strength you would for someone else who is clearly suffering? We can’t love our neighbors as ourselves unless we first know how to love ourselves. This is not a prideful, selfish love, but a love that says, “I care about the body that God has given me.” I care about my eyes and what they see. I care about my ears and what they hear. I care about my body and what I wear—knowing that all things I do personally should bring glory to God. This is slow, deliberate self-love—not the love of self.
We must first look in the mirror and examine the areas where we are not loving ourselves. Overeating, smoking, drinking, taking drugs, and indulging in excess are all physical ways we neglect our bodies. We often forget to care for ourselves but continue caring for others. However, our bodies are carefully crafted by God and need the correct input to function well. What we put into our bodies is important because it affects the output, and in turn, affects the glory we give to God.
Think about this: you wouldn’t allow a child to eat junk food all day, so why don’t we show that same restraint with ourselves? We end up loving others more than ourselves, and that’s not the commandment Jesus gave. He said, “Love others as yourself.” If we neglect to regulate what we watch on TV, as we would with a child, we’re not practicing self-love. Instead, we open ourselves to harmful and evil images. We must learn to love ourselves in a healthy, balanced way—not boastfully or selfishly, but by genuinely caring for our own well-being.
Jesus tells us that we must become like little children in receiving the gospel. While He wasn’t specifically referring to the kind of self-care I’m discussing, the example of children helps explain my point. We know what they need, and we should approach self-care with the same clarity and intentionality.
To further drive this home, think about the example of someone drinking a case of beer in one sitting. You would be concerned about their well-being, perhaps intervene, and suggest that they’ve had enough. But when it comes to ourselves, we often don’t show that same restraint—and we must!
A fruit of the Spirit is self-control, and it’s necessary for more than just controlling our emotions—it’s also crucial for managing how we treat our bodies. This self-control should not be confused with willpower. All power and strength come from the Lord and the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit will produce the self-control we need, but we must start by saying “yes” to it. Saying yes to self-control and no to overindulgence in things that do not serve us. We often seem to be able to control others, but struggle to control ourselves.
Don’t try to change everything at once. Take one step at a time with Jesus. Pray and ask for His help—ask Him to give you self-control where you need it. When you need the power of the Holy Spirit, He will help you. And remember, it’s all about loving yourself.
Ask yourself before you do something, “Would I allow or advise someone else to do what I’m about to do?” In that moment, you may find a hundred reasons to act a certain way, but you only need one reason not to: Jesus.
Let Jesus be the reason for everything—our reason to say no, our reason to love ourselves, and our reason for everything.
Dear Father God, please forgive me for not loving myself enough to self-care. Please reveal to me the areas i need to work on and help me to change my habits and behaviours. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
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