Congregational Corner: Take on, Loving Yourself

By Rev. Jordan B. Davis (M.Div.‘14)
Congregational Corner

Every year, I watch the posts fly about what individuals are “giving up” for Lent. The crash diets and motivation to finally clean out the closets are worthy of being posted on social media, but I question if they really challenge us to understand the meaning of Lent and the sacrifice which we remember during Holy Week. As I pondered how I would approach this Lenten season, I decided that I wanted to turn things around in my own life and rather than give something up or give something away, I will take something on, just as Christ took on the sins of the world in his own death.

Over the next several weeks, I will strive to “take on” one new thing each week, in turn striving to take on more of the love and grace which Christ exhibited throughout his life, death, and resurrection. I hope that you will join me and share your own experiences!


Over this past year, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the ways which God’s Word for us shapes my own self-understanding. Throughout this confirmation year, I have really sought new ways to spin the understanding of personal faith in a way that really focuses on self understanding and self love through faith. During a recent discussion about grace, we looked at the greatest commandment,

30and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
 31The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself.
No other commandment is greater than these.”
Mark 12: 30-31 CEB

So often we focus on “love your neighbor” and miss what I think might be the most important part here in verse 31 – “love yourself”.

As we learn to truly love God, we learn to love ourselves through the understanding that we are created in God’s image. It is an incredible thing to consider that God, the purest form of love there is, created each and every one of us in that same form of pure love. It is so simple and so complicated.

To ask an 8th grader what it means to be created in pure, beautiful, flawless love is a powerful thing. The self-critique of an adolescent is really no different from that of an adult – we focus so much on our flaws that we forget how we really came into being. We focus on everything that could be wrong with us that miss the beautiful and intentional marks which God has added to our beings through this perfectly pure love.

As we begin this Lenten season and remember the pure love from which we came and to which we will return, I pray that we can find it in ourselves to love ourselves the way God loves us. Until we learn to do this, until we see the beautifully and lovingly marked children of God that we are and embrace that, we will not be able to see and embrace the same in our neighbors.

During this first week of Lent, I challenge you to join me as we take on loving ourselves as we have been created and formed in the image of God.

From dust we have come and to dust we will return;
from pure love we come and to pure love we will return.
Embrace the dust of today, rather than sweeping it away;
Love who you are today, rather than hiding your beauty away.


Alumna Jordan B. Davis is associate pastor for youth and young adults at Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church in Cary, North Carolina, and editor of Congregational Corner.

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