Love Yourself As You Love Others

Love Yourself as You Love Others

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Sitting in the parking lot outside the medical clinic, I clutched the phone, trying not to sob as I told my husband the news: “I got the test results: there is actually something medically wrong with me, and I have a prescription.”

It had been years since I had felt truly good—full of energy, ready to conquer the world. The previous winter had been particularly difficult, with feelings of hopelessness and fatigue, and my husband’s words, said with wistful sadness, continuously echoed in my head: “I just want my Julie back.” It was his words that finally made me reach for the phone to schedule an appointment with a clinic specializing in women’s health issues.

It turned out my testosterone levels were near zero and my other hormone levels were extremely low too. As the nurse practitioner rattled off a list of symptoms associated with my test results, it felt as though she had been watching footage of my life over the course of the last several years.

While I find it relatively easy to extend grace to others for their shortcomings, I struggle to give myself that same grace. I often expect perfection of myself in situations where I would be quick to forgive the imperfection in another, and the voices in my head are always quick to compare my secret worst to another’s public best. As I’ve reclaimed my life through a careful rebalancing of my hormones and making other lifestyle changes, I’ve worked on extending the same grace to myself that I extend to others.

Secretly despising our bodies, our talents, and our skills is not how Christ calls us to live. Our bodies are his temple, bought at a high price—and we are to treat ourselves accordingly. Anything less and we cheapen Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and sabotage the plans God has for us and also for us to reach others.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Practice extending grace to yourself instead of secretly beating yourself up.