The Faithful Steward – The Loving Steward

Love of Self

Over the years being able ‘to love oneself’ has gone from being a virtue to the point where now it is being considered as something that is akin to vanity.

To say to someone “You only love yourself” is now considered to be a hurtful verbal arrow if not a downright insult. Yet, if you stop…

And think about it. Loving oneself has to be the start of any form of real love.

 So where does love start?

It always starts with acceptance.

The newborn is accepted by their mother
And so too by their father.
The younger sibling is accepted by the older one.
The son and daughter in law is accepted by the parents of their spouse.
One friend by another.

And so on…

The love that so often starts from such a small seed is most of the time allowed to grow, deepen and become strong until each one cherishes the other and can’t really imagine life without that person being in it. They will do everything they can to ensure the people they love are getting the best they can give them and often even at some cost to themselves.

The thing is that when it comes to loving ourselves then most of us have an attitude that is the exact opposite. We have nothing to give and no time to spend doing it.

Yet… If everything was taken away from you now. All your family, all your stuff then the only thing you would have left is yourself. And while you remain alive that is the one thing you cannot lose.

In fact ‘YOU’ are the first thing that was ever given to you.
‘YOU’ is the last thing that you will ever poses.

So as that ‘life’ is something you were given at birth – even before the love of your parents. How should you be looking after yourself?

How should you value the stewardship you were given
How should you return with interest the gift that is life that has been placed into your hands by the power of the Spirit?