Focusing on God and Loving yourself first.

 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7)

I think whether you are Christian or not, that is the best definition of love I think that there is. I have yet to find one that is more encompassing.  The part that gets to me the most is the part where it states that love is not self-seeking and does not keep record of ills or well in this case wrong doings. To me that should be the ideal way to love. If you definition of love is that other people must not grow, they must not develop or that you feel abandoned if they simply do things such as living their lives, then you need to reevaluate and assess what it is to love and be loved.

The saying goes that if you don't love yourself, you can't love others. I believe this to me true. I will also like to add that you need to focus on God. Anyone who is reading this blog is probably thinking "WOW she has it together, she knows what she is talking about." However, as I type these words I am learning to affirm this message to myself. I spent all my life, being surrounded by wounded people. People who unfortunately don't love themselves. When you don't love yourself, your partner can call you beautiful and you will never believe it, while you are prone to consider the negative about yourself even if it may be the furthest thing from the true. You may seek validation from everyone else, you blame everyone else for your sorrow and your misery. This may be true to some extent. You may be in an abusive relationship (physical, verbal, non-verbal, emotional) etc. How we react to situations is what we really counts. I know from personal experience from day to day that it is a struggle. You can tell yourself, you love yourself and it doesn't matter what anyone says. However, the negative stimulus comes into your environment and all that go to positivity just comes crashing down. That is where God comes in. God is the ultimate source of love. God promises us each and every one of us gifts. He has an ultimate plan for us. It can be so difficult trusting in Him especially when things go array. Truth is that is the nature of the game. When you start to love yourself, people will notice. The ones who truly love you and support you will be thrilled, they will share in your celebration of self-discovery while the ones who don't will only see your newfound self-love as a damper on their plans. 

And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.( Matthew 18:9).

Matthew 18:9 is saying that anything that causes you to sin is toxic and you need to remove it. It is better to live without it. Sometimes that thing that is causing you to sin can be a friend or it could be a loved one.

I pray a lot. I am not the best Christian. I always fall short of the glory of God but I always return because Jesus made me a promise. In my heart, I know I am divine, I am called to a higher purpose. Jesus has spoken to me and it is already in the works. 
It is a work in progress because once you come to the realization that you are gifted, doesn't matter who you are, you may be attacked but it is up to you to fight it. Now we often blame the devil and God for life's occurrences but we have to take personal responsibility. The devil can only enter not only by our thoughts but by our actions. We need to take personal responsibility for our own actions. You can't preach about love, focusing on God but treating his people like dirt. You have to give true service. I mean service. Not self-service. Not service to show others how great you are, while behind closed doors you are nothing but. You can fool mankind, but God is hard to fool. So give service genuinely and kindly.

Peace and love

XOXO

Jeanne Marie Thompson