What If We’re Seeing It All Wrong?

As I sit here and write this blog, I am preparing for an online class about self-talk. These thoughts keep coming to mind. We have this uncanny ability to place blame. Okay, hear me out. I was thinking about how we have shifted one of the greatest commandments that Jesus gave. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:39) Here’s the part about shifting. We (alright me) often think that if we as neighbors loved each other better we wouldn’t be killing each other. Or on a much lesser level, we wouldn’t be so petty.

I mean as neighbors we’re supposed to take care of each other. We’re supposed to see to each other’s needs. During the Covid shutdowns or other extreme situations we remind each other and ourselves to take care of the elderly, take care of the children left at home alone, take care of the needy. I see this in so many different ways at all different times. But it is contrasted by the media overload of mass killings, or riots, shoots, and other acts of violence that one or more humans inflict on one another.

We’re not probably much different in the way we try to make sense of these scenes. I feel inadequate at how I process them. On other occasions, I feel very intelligent and wise in my suggestions. But what if it’s all wrong? What if we are viewing life from a skewed viewpoint? In all actuality if you believe in the truth of the Bible then you would know that we really do live this way. Our view is limited and skewed by self-centeredness.

We get that selfishness comes from seeking our own benefit before others, but does self-centeredness also mean loving ourselves so poorly that it warps our view of how to love our neighbors? No, really? What if the verse isn’t about our neighbors as much as it is about our own self-love?

How do you look in the mirror? Is your view warped by all the things that are wrong with you? How do you make mistakes? Is it impacted by all of the negative voices that mocked you as you not only made childhood mistakes, but strived to correct them? Is your image from the perspective of God? Think about this a little deeper than the surface for just a minute. God loves each individual person with so much passion that he hears our unique tones, voice inflections, and speech styles as we cry out in prayer. God loves us each with such tenderness and mercy that he has spent thousands of years making every effort to protect us from evil (and if we’re honest, ourselves).

When each new human baby comes into the world, God breathes into them the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). Some receive it and others are received back into his hands to be cradled with a love that will far surpass that of an earthly parent. There’s a beauty in the moment that a new life begins. Into that moment, God smiles because his creation, the same one that he called “very good,” continues on.

So, what if we changed the way in which we saw ourselves? I’m not talking about conceit. I mean what if we truly loved who we were? What if we were valuable in our own eyes? What if we saw our unique design as something beautiful to be given away for the benefit of the world? And what if this is the same lens in which we saw our neighbors. It just might be that much more difficult to hurt another person if what we saw is their beauty radiating back at us. I love you my fellow life sojourners. I pray blessings for your journey.

Check out the home page of my website monicaswank.org to join the discussion on self-talk tonight, August 1st.

-blessings