“Let thy love be for them as for thyself” D&C 112:11.
Love the other people around you as much as you love yourself.
I’ve discovered that this is something many struggle with.
I’ve spoken with young men and young women recently who have admitted that they have a really hard time loving themselves.
I’ve spoken with friends as they’ve wept thinking that they’ve lost God’s love.
We need to love others, but we also need to take the time to love ourselves.
To trust that God loves us exactly as we are, which means we can, too.
To be empathetic and understanding to ourselves, and to others.
In my mind, it fits perfectly with the Lord’s earlier command to “be thou humble” in D&C 112:10.
I’ve learned that true humility is recognizing that ALL of us, every single one of us, including you, are perfectly loved by God.
No one is greater. No one is lesser.
And putting anyone on a different spot other than the equal line that we are all standing on, is pride. The opposite of humility.
Thinking that your bishop is more loved by God than you are because of his calling, is pride.
Thinking that you are more loved by God because you are a member of the restored Church of Jesus Christ than your neighbor down the street, is pride.
Thinking that you have failed God and that you are completely out of the reach of His love, is pride.
Thinking that it doesn’t matter whether or not you keep up on small spiritual habits because you can handle life without all of that, is pride.
Pride is believing anything other than the fact that we are all equally loved by God and that we are all His children.
And humility is getting everyone, including yourself, back on that same playing field. Recognizing that God loves all of His children equally.
Let your love for others be the same as the love for yourself.
And whether that means you need to work on realizing your exact relationship with God a little better, or recognizing other people’s relationship with God better, or maybe a little bit of both.
Then you are following the counsel to be thou humble.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
4 Responses
Your snippets are always inspiring helpful. You are awesome
Thank you so much! <3
How do we help members who are LGBTQ+ and constantly told they are sinful, unworthy people who will never be good unless they die to love themselves?
Oh you would love listening to episode 333 on my podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-minute-scripture-study-a-come-follow-me-podcast/id1501755896?i=1000516118316 We interviewed Ben Schilaty, who identifies as a gay Latter-day Saint, and he gives beautiful advice about this. I also highly recommend grabbing his book, too. I’ve personally learned from listening to members in the LGBTQ community that they feel the most loved when people just love them, talk to them, and ask them questions. Give this episode a listen though and let me know what you think <3