Self-love is becoming more and more popular amongst Nairobi’s elites. It is all over social media. If you follow them on Instagram, you will see a lot of quotes and statements like this.
Self Love Quotes
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“F.L.Y. First Love Yourself. Others will come next.”
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“Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.”
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“Your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have.”
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“Work on being in love with the person in the mirror who has been through so much but is still standing.”
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“Loving yourself isn’t vanity. It’s sanity.”
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“Love yourself. Enough to take the actions required for your happiness. Enough to cut yourself loose from the drama-filled past. Enough to set a high standard for relationships. Enough to feed your mind and body in a healthy manner. Enough to forgive yourself. Enough to move on.”
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“The more you love yourself, the less nonsense you’ll tolerate.”
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“What if you simply devoted this year to loving yourself more?”
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“Fall in love with taking care of yourself. Mind. Body. Spirit.”
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“We must fall in love with yourselves. I don’t like myself. I’m crazy about myself.”
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“Falling in love with yourself first doesn’t make you vain or selfish – it makes you indestructible.”
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“Have unshakable faith in yourself to become everything you want to be.”
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“Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.”
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“If you don’t love yourself, nobody else is going to love you.”
Have you seen these quotes? How true are all of these quotes? Are they harmful? Are they biblical? Are they helpful? Let’s take a look at this in more detail.
Harmful or Harmless? Biblical or Unbiblical?
If you think about it, self-love seems to address a lot of the things we all struggle with like, for example, self-esteem, eating habits, self-image, unhealthy relationships, and having peace in our lives. It seems to be the answer to all of the things that we struggle with.
One principle that is always important is not to let culture determine what is God honouring, but we sift culture through the Word of God. We need to let the Word of God help us judge culture as opposed to the culture judging the Word of God. So, what does the Word of God say about a lot of these “self-love” quotes?
The Bible tells not to love ourselves, but to put on the “new self (Ephesians 4:22-24).” The new self is so much better because it is “…created after the likeness of God… (Eph. 4:24)” We have a new life in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), and the source of that life is what we should love. That new life is Jesus Christ in us (Gal. 2:20). That is worth loving because it makes us more into the image of Jesus Christ, which is far superior than the best version of yourself.
Also, the Bible says that in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that people will be “lovers of self in the last days…rather than loves of God…Avoid such people.” The foundation for all of the sins listed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 are those that love themselves. Look at these sins and ask yourself if being a lover of self is good?
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Lovers of money (vs 2)
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Proud (vs. 2)
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Arrogant (vs. 2)
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Abusive (vs. 2)
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Disobedient to their parents (vs. 3)
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Ungrateful (vs 3)
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Unholy (vs. 3)
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Heartless (vs. 3)
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Unappeasable (vs 3)
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Slanderous (vs 3)
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Without Self-control (vs. 3)
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Brutal (vs. 3)
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Not loving good (vs 3)
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Treacherous (vs 4)
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Reckless (vs. 4)
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Swollen with conceit (vs. 4)
Be careful of laying a foundation of self-love because you can become just as these sins above are listed.
Let’s consider the first consequence of the first attribute of someone who is a lover of self. They are those that are “love of money.” The desire to look good with beautiful clothes so your self-esteem and self-image can be boosted takes priority over generosity. The desire to feel good about yourself and have peace despite your challenges means it is easy to neglect those who are in real financial need. Biblical self-love does not match up with what God desires of you as a Christian. Next, self-love can be very harmful to you and our society at large because it leads to the sins listed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Also, consider that African culture is based on others before self, but if I love myself too much, then I will neglect others.
Self in place of God
Self-love statements can seem like they’re positive statements and seem very logical, but they can also be loaded with thoughts that lead you to put yourself in place of God. Consider the following quotes.
“Have unshakable faith in yourself to become everything you want to be.”
Consider this self-love quote above. In some ways, it would seem to be saying not to doubt in yourself, but belief in what you can do. However, this statement can cause you to have too much faith in yourself. It will lead you to believe that you, like God, have all of the ability to turn your life completely around and give you the desires of your heart. It leads one to believe that you can make anything happen as long as you have faith in yourself. That is putting yourself in place of God. It is putting your faith in a false god, yourself. You most likely cannot become everything you want to be, because you have a sin nature. Sin nature doesn’t disappear until you die. Instead of having faith in yourself, have faith in God. He is the only one that can enable you to do something beyond what you’re capable of. He is the one that works in you to make you become more like Jesus. Truthfully you want to become just like Jesus because he was perfect and sinless. You don’t want to be everything that you want to be. You want to be everything that God wants you to be, which is like Jesus. So have faith in God and not yourself.
“Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.“
This self-love quote seems to be saying that the miracle of loving myself can completely change my emotional, physical, and mental challenges. Such a statement can lead you to believe that the power to do anything is totally within yourself. It is making yourself god as opposed to God being God. Miracles happen because God does them. It is not because of loving yourself. Also, consider that it is true that someone can overcome some emotional, physical, and mental challenges without believing in God, but that is only because of the miracle that God created them with that ability to do so. God is the creator and sustainer of all life, whether we believe in him or not. The real miracle worker is not self-love, but it is God. So, don’t love yourself, love God and believe in Him for a miracle in your life.
“If you don’t love yourself, nobody else is going to love you.“
This last quote is the saddest quote to me. Imagine the pressure to try and love yourself all of the time so that someone else will love you. What if you start to doubt in yourself? What if you begin to fail at something in life and become disappointed in yourself? Does that mean your friends and family are going to love you less progressively? You can’t love yourself all of the time. Only God can love unconditionally.
Be careful of the self-love quotes because they can lead you to believe that you are like God. Have faith in God and not in self-love. Believe God can do miracles and not self-love. The truth is that we’re all going to be deeply disappointed in our abilities to take the role of God. Consider this as you hear self-love statements.
