The Greatest Commandment

How often do you think what it means to love someone else?  I'm not talking about romantic  love, but brotherly and Godly love you have for another person.   Have you ever wondered how your own feelings toward yourself might affect you loving other people?  I have.

And I have come to a conclusion:  it is hard to love other people, as you should, if you don't love yourself.  If one has come to dislike or even hate oneself, it is going to affect his/her relationships with other people.  I base this idea on my own experience and on scripture. 

Healing my Thought Life

Have you noticed my new header?  Yes, I know I went awfully pink.  For the men who read this devotional blog, please bear with me.  Eventually, I will change it.  I wanted a special header that was not like anyone else's, for God has made each of us as unique beings.  We have many similarities, but we are like snowflakes--not one is alike.  That is so very important to remember in reading my blogs.  If you, I, and someone else suffer with the same chronic illness, we may not experience all the same symptoms.  However, we have a God that knows exactly what is going on in each of us.  And guys, I am  a female, also I like pink; so bear with me until I change the Header again.

You probably noticed words and a scripture passage on my page header, and I picked these to remind us to notice where our thoughts are going.  Yes, I know things enter in that are unpleasant, and we cannot hide from the constant bombardment most of us experience in this day and age.  But that must have been a problem back when the Bible was written too.  

One evening I felt like doodling.  I was feeling
 fatigued and sad, but this lifted my spirits.
Child's play?  Maybe not.  Maybe this was
good therapy.  I concentrated on this, and I was
able to sort my thoughts in a more positive manner.

 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  Philippians 4:8 (NASB)

When one is dealing with an illness, it is easy to constantly center on how bad we feel.  If a person is depressed, the dull or heavy pain that seems to never leave is impossible to forget. I understand that.  In fact, when I was reading some self-help material, I tore that book up and threw it in the trash.  How dare the authors tell me I had a choice about being happy!  How could I possibly feel happy when I felt like I was being sucked in a dark hole?

What I want you to know is Philippians 4:8 can help you change your thought life.