Loving God More

The greatest commandment isn't do not kill, or any of those things, it is: Matthew 22:36-40 
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 

Did you get that? I believe that we miss that, it is easy to think, well there is no one greater than God in my life, I love Him, He is the most important, but that we look at ourselves, we either love ourselves or we hate ourselves. And we think of ourselves higher than God either way, even in the hating, because we are saying we know better than God. It is easy to compare ourselves to others around us, but God designed each of us. It says in Psalm 139:13 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." If we feel we are a mistake, we are saying that God makes mistakes, but He doesn't. If we see ourselves as ugly, we are saying that God didn't do His job, instead of seeing that God created a masterpiece in us. We need to love ourselves, but that means saying God you made me the way I am, I have imperfections, but in those imperfections you made me this way, so I am the way you want me to be. We have to stop comparing ourselves to others, because it will only make us feel less than best, but God created me, He chose me, He made me and He makes no mistakes. I am His much loved child and so are you.

When we start putting ourselves above God, loving ourselves so much that we idolize who we are, instead of seeing that God made us, we are no greater then the least of those He made. We have to be humble and not think of ourselves as better than anyone. We are cut out of the same cloth and He made us all, no one is greater than the other and exterior beauty is only skin deep, for it too shall fade and even with plastic surgery it will not save face, for we too shall grow old. What is on the inside that really matters and God sees your heart.

I think the biggest thing is to thank God for how He made you, no matter what. I look at myself, I am different than a lot of people, but God made me this way. He knew I would not be able to have kids, it doesn't make me less or more special then others, He made me.  I am thankful He made me this way, His purpose is much greater than mine and I will praise Him for it all.

The next time you look in the mirror, thank God for how He made you, ask Him that He may reveal the beauty that He has made in you, instead of comparing yourself to others. Comparison is a trap and when we are comparing ourselves to other people, we will be lost in a spiral that will pull us down and there is no winning, but when we start thanking God for making us, we start wanting to please God more than others, more than ourselves and in doing so, we base who we are, by who He is. Our job, people around us, our kids can't define us, because those are all temporary, God is the permanent factor of who we must love most.