A Prayer for Thursday, October 3, 2013

Self-Love (Part 5)

O God,

Your Son Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

But how do we love ourselves in a way that helps us to love others as we should?

In Christ, our perspective is being changed. In Christ, we grow toward loving you with everything we are. In Christ, we grow toward a willingness to give ourselves away for your sake and for the sake of other people; in Christ, we grow toward the ability to think more of others than we do of ourselves.

Thank you that Jesus both taught us and showed us how to live in such love.

Help us to grow a little bit each day in being able to love ourselves and our neighbors by giving ourselves away for them.

In Christ, to love you is to give ourselves away.
In Christ, to love ourselves is to give ourselves away.
In Christ, to love others is to give ourselves away.

So help us to grow in our ability and willingness to give ourselves away, all because of Christ and all because of love.

Amen.