Love Yourself

Once again, please keep in your mind that this blog is not short. Therefore, read it when you have a time with a coffee or tea in your hands.

Why did I come up with this title while this title itself is repeated everywhere? I am sure that you heard this quote in many forms so many times that its meaning may be invalid or meaningless. However, I see differently. This quote still inspires me.

Before I move on, please read my blog “To Judge or Not To Judge” because it concerns the attitude of passing judgment on the others.

What I am trying to say is that if you find yourself judging the others, then you really do not love yourself. Before I move deeper into the discussion, I want to share a story that is based on King David’s action that reflected his poor judgment as a king. You may read the passage (2 Samuel 11-12).

King David had been quite a successful king and won over many battles, leading his armies successfully. One day, he decided to stay home while his armies go on the war. One night, he saw the naked woman, Bathsheba, bathing. First of all, he was the king and he was supposed to establish an example as a man with moral values. Nevertheless, he summoned her to his bedroom and had a fun night.

Moreover, the woman King David chose to have an affair happened to be married to a man who is faithful soldier of King David. And to make things worse, Bathsheba got pregnant. Instead of telling the truth, King David summoned Bathsheba’s husband and got him drunk and to sleep with his wife to cover up.

But, the soldier was too loyal and he refused to sleep with his wife while he was currently on his duty as a soldier. (Poor soldier for being so loyal blindly to King David…) Anyway, King David got an idea by writing a letter. After sealing it, he told his loyal soldier to deliver it to the enemy at the front line.

The loyal soldier obeyed without asking a single question. At the front line, he delivered the sealed letter to the commander. Inside the sealed letter, it told the enemy commander to have someone to kill the soldier. Unfortunately, the faithful and loyal soldier was killed. That way, King David can marry Bathsheba after a month of mourning and everything was good.

What he had done is lie, steal, kill, and adultery while he was supposed to be an example of a man with moral values. So, one day, the man named Nathan who is known as a prophet of God came to him. Once King David saw Nathan, he gave the prophet a big welcome and said, “What is it I can do for you?”

Nathan sighed, “Well, I want to share something that bothers me.”

David inquired, “What is it? Is there something I can do?”

Nathan nodded, “Okay, you see… there was a large farm owned by a rich man. He has so many sheep and plenty of harvest that he has many tenants living around to do all the work. You see, one of those tenants is a poor family that owns only an innocent lamb. They are very poor that they feed the lamb from their own table.

“Unfortunately, once the rich man realized that his guest is coming, he wanted to prepare a finest meal, but he did not want to use one of his sheep. Therefore, he decided to have one of his servants to snatch that innocent lamb from the poor family, breaking their hearts.” Nathan shook his head, “It’s so sad to see the children crying as they watched their lamb being taken away. The lamb was killed mercilessly by the servant and was prepared for a dinner meal for the rich man and the guest. Of course, the rich man and the guest ate without expressing their gratitude. So, what do you think we should do with this rich man?”

King David was so furious and said, “Surely, that rich man deserves to die! And he should pay back four times for what he stole!”

Nathan turned toward King David and said, “Indeed?”

King David shouted, “Yes!”

Nathan pointed toward King David and shouted, “You are that same man!”

It caught King David completely off the guard. Nathan continued, “You are the king and you have several wives, but you chose to have an affair with this woman and to end her husband’s life!”

King David suddenly confessed his mistakes and asked for forgiveness.

I can continue, but I am focusing on the topic, “Love Yourself.” Why did I share this story? You see, King David was angry with the person for his mistake, but it was himself that he was angry and loathing at!

If I look at someone and felt negative against someone, then it’s ME that I am having problems with. It’s in my personal experience that I judged the others because I don’t really love myself.

After facing my worst time of my life in the past, I realized that my life got so much better just because I learned to love one other as I love myself. Loving myself is not easy because I did hate myself for many reasons. Hence, it was the reason why I judged the others harshly.

So, my question: Do you really love yourself regardless to the flaws you have? If not, please do. Life itself is quite beautiful once you learn how to love yourself and to forgive yourself for your mistakes in your past. From the point, I believe the journey to true happiness will begin.