Can we be honest for a second? Somewhere along the way, a lot of us got the message that taking care of ourselves was one step away from being selfish. Like loving yourself was something you had to apologize for. Like it was in competition with loving God.
I want to gently push back on that today, friend.
Self-love isn’t the opposite of faith. It’s an outflow of it.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Read that again. God’s plans for you were never just about what you’d produce, accomplish, or give to everyone else. They included your hope. Your future. Your wellbeing. If He thought that much of you, who are we to think less?
You were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) — not just useful, not just capable, but wonderfully made, on purpose, by a God who doesn’t make mistakes. Caring for that creation isn’t vanity. It’s stewardship.
What this actually looks like this week
- Say no to one thing that drains you, without a paragraph of justification attached.
- Rest before you’re running on empty, not after.
- Speak to yourself the way you’d speak to a friend who was struggling — not the way your inner critic wants to.
None of that is selfish. It’s you believing what God already said about you.
If this is a season where you’re trying to hear God more clearly in the middle of the noise — including the noise of your own self-doubt — I wrote something for that. It’s called Still, Small Voice, and it’s for anyone who’s ever laid awake wondering, “God, was that You, or was that just me?”
And if you want more of this — real talk, real faith, no pastor voice required — come sit with us over in the Real Talk Believer community. You don’t have to carry this alone.
Be still. Know that He is God. And know that loving what He made — including you — was never up for debate. 🤍
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