Self-acceptance is the essence of self-love

Self-acceptance is the essence of self-love

Self-acceptance is the essence of self-love.  Erroneously, we believe self-love only follow years of self-improvement.  That fallacy imprisons many people to the painstaking tasks of spending exorbitant amounts of money and time on clothing, cosmetics, cars, social affiliations, education, and credentials.  Somehow, these acquisitions allow us to love ourselves.  Moreover, they then compel others to love us as those external things qualify us to receive love.  On the contrary, self-love begins with an unequivocal acceptance of one’s self.

Acceptance requires an honest appraisal of one’s character: good and bad, strengths and weaknesses, light and darkness.  These tensions exist within all of us.  As we grow into the unique people whom our Creator made us, we learn to build upon our assets and neutralize our liabilities.  We further discover ways of celebrating all of who we are.  We embrace our past without regret, guilt or resentment.  Sometimes, looking backward more clearly directs us toward our goals and dreams.  Also, whereas the past may contain the origins of many of our present challenges, it ironically reveals clues for success in overcoming them.  When we straightforwardly accept our past, we find tremendous healing and strength.  We additionally find liberty to resist dishonesty and pretension.  Try as hard as we may, we cannot make ourselves into someone we are not.  Accordingly, self-acceptance is the only viable option to enjoying any blessings of a good and purposeful life.

As we travel through valleys of doubt, fear and faithlessness, the temptation to escape the process of self-analysis easily presents itself.  Refusing to embrace the necessity of self-evaluation is an extremely expensive mistake.  Ultimately, our failure to accept all aspects of ourselves leads us to disliking and perhaps even hating ourselves.  As you engage the process of self-analysis, you discover previously undisclosed parts of your character. Underlying self-improvement is the goal of fixing the broken, defected, worthless, and useless parts of ourselves.  After awhile, campaigns of self-improvement result in self-contempt if not self-hatred.  A meaningful remedy is daily spiritual discipline of looking in a mirror and developing an acceptance and a love for the person whose reflection you see.

Self-acceptance, which genuinely yields self-love, has several significant characteristics.  People who accept and love themselves possess patience and integrity, enjoy solitude and value their uniqueness as children of God.  Love and acceptance of self emerge in time.  Those vital characteristics rarely develop overnight.  They are the produce of seeds of faith in God and belief in self. 

"Folding up the Tent" - Reflections on Death

“Folding up the Tent” – Reflections on Death

The phrase, “folding up the tent,” is biblical imagery for physical death, which transitions Christian believers into eternal life.  In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, the apostle Paul discourses upon “Our Heavenly Dwelling.”  He utilizes the task of tent making which was his means of financial support during his missionary journeys as spiritual symbolism to explain which opens the door to eternity.  It is the natural end of our earthly pilgrimage which has a primary spiritual purpose of sharing God’s love.

Death is the crossing of a threshold from time and history into eternity, the everlasting presence of God.  Death enables believers to cease their wandering in life’s wilderness.  We cross the great cosmological Jordan River and arrive safely in Promised Land of the New Jerusalem.  There, we no longer experience disease, danger and other limitations of earthly existence.  As a consequence, “folding up the tent” is an ironic occasion for rejoicing rather than mourning.

Paul refers to the human body as a tent.  “If the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal home in the heavens not built by human hands.”  Paul made tents out of goatskins because they were the most durable types.  Reflecting upon this occupation one day, Paul writes to the Corinthian church to remind them the human body is a tent that houses our soul.  Biologists, neurologists, internists, pathologists and other scientists still attempt to replicate the intricacies of the eyes, liver, brain and other vital organs.  Our teeth, DNA and fingerprints reflect the uniqueness of each human tent. 

Nevertheless, like durable tents made of goatskins, our human tents eventually wear out because of disease and other natural causes.  Death results predictably.  But, Paul insists we should not fret because of it.  We do not wail and cry because we inherit an even greater house to replace our earthly tent.  This home exists in heavenly realms.  Almighty God majestically, mystically and magnificently creates an eternal, no corporeal tent in which our eternal spirits will dwell as we enjoy His direct presence.

This tent metaphor alludes to a nomadic existence for Christian disciples.  Life is a pilgrimage.  The earth is not the home of believers.  We are merely passing through the wilderness of life.  Like the children of Israel who were liberated from Egyptian slavery, then traveled through the wilderness enroute to the Promised Land, Christians are traveling through life with the New Jerusalem as their destination.  In the wilderness passages of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the Israelites live in tents.  Under God’s direction, they pitch tent pegs into the ground.  When told to move on, they dig them up and continue the journey.  Similarly, Christians use their time within their earthly tents to honor and glorify God and serve humankind.  We follow the Lord’s leading to accomplish the tasks He sets before us.  We are pilgrims wandering through the earth seeking to build the kingdom of God. 

In 2 Corinthians 5:4, Paul acknowledges human existence can be extremely burdensome.  The challenges, stresses and strains of life put tremendous wear and tear on any tent.  The forces of the natural elements corrode any dwelling no matter how well built and maintained.  Inevitably, the very best human tents will wear out.  When they do and the souls that inhabit them transition to eternal life, that occurrence leads to rejoicing with praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God.  God uniquely shares Himself with us through our spouses, children, family and friends who are close to us.  We are spirits who dwell in bodies, earthly tents.  Accordingly, disciples resist seduction by secular, humanistic, narcissistic, and corporate mindset of society.  God empowers believers with dynamism of the Holy Spirit to triumph over the tests and trials of life. 

Quite frankly, death is the healing that we sometimes ask of God.  “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”  In His infinite wisdom, God provides healing through many methods.  Oftentimes, His ways transcend our understanding and logic.  A faith that genuinely relies upon the goodness of God and trustworthiness of His word enables us to accept His providential actions despite our finite analysis.  Moreover, we relinquish our selfishness in wanting to hold on to our loved ones to the bitter end despite the tremendous pain and suffering they may experience.  Rather, we delight in their faith and the rewards that will await them when they finally “fold up the earthly tent.”