Reassessment of the Self

This post consists of some brain-drizzles, because I could be completely wrong about this. But I was thinking the other day about loving and forgiving ourselves. Many are ready to tell us that our basic problem in life is that we don't love ourselves enough and that we are so guilt-ridden that we need to learn to forgive ourselves. It sounds right, but I'm starting to wonder if it's really true. Do we really need to love ourselves more and forgive ourselves more?

Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." It sure sounds like there needs to be some self-love involved here. But how much? Jesus doesn't say. He tells us to love others at least as much as we love ourselves. But why would Jesus give us this command if we truly didn't love ourselves very much? If I didn't love myself, then the command wouldn't make much sense. If I were truly a self-loather, wouldn't Jesus be saying that I should reflect that loathing onto others?

I see no command to love the self. The command is to love the neighbor with the same love we give ourselves. Could it be that we love ourselves way too much? Aren't our attempts to love and forgive ourselves signs that we are already doing this and that we are withholding it from others? Aren't they ways of trying to get from others what we are already giving to ourselves?

It seems to me that the Biblical diagnosis of our dilemmas stem from an overt love of the self. The command to love others as we have been loved draws us out of our love of the self so that we love others in the same manner: way too much. That's how much God loves us. God loves us in Christ way too much. Maybe we need to stop trying to love ourselves because we already do. It's time to start loving others with the love that we've been shown by God, or at least with the love we afford ourselves.