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Harvest Daily 01/14/05


 

 

January 14
Losers, Keepers

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it . . .  - Ephesians 5:29

So often today we hear about the importance of self-image, self-love, self-worth, and self-esteem.  Sadly, we hear it proclaimed from our pulpits: "Doesn't the Scripture say, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'?  First you have to love yourself, and then you love your neighbor."  Wrong.

The Bible is not teaching you to first love yourself and then love your neighbor.  Rather, it is teaching that you already love yourself, so now love your neighbor.  In fact, the Bible says, "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it . . ." (Ephesians 5:29).  We already have self-love.  Now we need to love others in the same way.

You will hear people say, "I am trying to find myself."  But Jesus says that if you want to find yourself, then lose yourself.  If you want to find your life, deny yourself.  You have heard the expression, "Finders, keepers; losers, weepers."  We could take what Jesus is saying and call it "losers, keepers."  The person who loses his or her life, in reality, keeps it.

Copyright (c) 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.



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