What if you took 40 days to fast from self-loathing? It would be a wonderful form of self-discipline and act of repentance during the Lenten Season.
So many of us are in the habit of saying some very “not nice” things about ourselves and other people and even the Lord. Negative self-talk is a vicious circle that can destroy a person, a family, an organization, the world. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I include the world in the list of what can be destroyed by self-loathing. I believe negativity is a big problem in this world – negative self-talk, self-loathing is perhaps one of the biggest sins passed on from generation to generation.
Have you ever read anything that shows Jesus as a person who was inclined towards negative self-talk? No. There is a lot of negative self-talk in some of the Old Testament Scriptures, but in the Gospels, there is no self-loathing or negative self-talk coming from the mouth of Jesus, the Savior of the World.
What if, instead of saying “I’m not good.” You said, “God says I’m good.” – – In the Scriptures after God is finished creating everything he looked and said ‘It is good.’
What if, instead of saying “I’m not worthy of anything.” You said, “I am worthy because God loves me and gave me Jesus to prove it.”
What if, instead of saying, “I can’t do anything.” You said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
What if instead of saying, “I feel like dying today.” You said, “I feel like loving myself today.”
What if instead of saying, “I’m a nobody in this world.” You said, “I am created in the image of God and that makes me somebody special.”
What if instead of saying, “I hate myself.” You said, “I love myself.”
What if instead of saying, “Nobody loves me.” You said, “God loves me so much he gave me his life.”
40 days – of loving yourself. Forty days of searching in the Scriptures for beautiful things God has said about the people he has created and loves.
What if you wrote those verses down on slips of paper and taped them on your mirror, on your wall, on the dashboard of your car, tucked them in your billfold, change purse, placed them on your nightstand, tucked them under paper weights on your desk? I’m guessing the weight of self-loathing would be lifted off your shoulders.
40 days of Self Love instead of self-loathing . . . how would that change your life and the lives of other people around you? If it sounds too simple or too difficult – you should probably try it. Find someone to take on a 40 days of self-love talk challenge, encourage each other to stick to it.
Lord, please teach us to love ourselves as you love us. Lead us to those verses in Scripture that will build us up in a Spirit of Love. We ask this so we may reflect more of your love to ourselves and other people in this world. AMEN
