Love Your Own Soul

Doesn’t the wording in Prov 19:8 seem peculiar, “He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul”?  He loveth his own soul.  I mean, we live in an age of perilous times where men are lovers of their own selves, 2 Tim 3:1-2.  Should you really love your own soul?

What we’ll see today is that there is a right way and a wrong way to love yourself.  I often find that Christians are so hard on themselves, they don’t love themselves Biblically.  And as a result their relationships are adversely affected.

Listen, Jesus loved us enough to die for us.  God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Certainly then there must be something about us to love.  If you loved yourself, Biblically, you would believe on Jesus and receive him.  You wouldn’t throw your life away on work and worldly pleasures.

We want to discuss the right way to love your own soul and what this will do to improve your most important relationships.  If you love your own soul, you will improve:

Your relationship with God. You’ll get wisdom, Prov 19:8. Wisdom is the principal thing, Prov 4:7.  It comes from God, Prov 2:5-7.  You’ll love him and his words.  When I was young, I loved myself like 2 Tim 3:2.  I loved the praise of men.  I loved pleasure.  And my relationship with God suffered immensely.

After I repented of my ways and the Lord turned me around, I began to seek God and his wisdom eagerly. I didn’t do it as a religious exercise.  I did it because I loved my soul.  I wanted to improve my relationship with God.  Today I love him and his words more than anything else in the world.

Your relationship with your brethren.  You’ll love others (of like mind), 1 Sam 18:1, 3; 20:17. Jonathan loved David as his own soul. 1 Pet 1:22, Mk 12:33.  When you love your soul Biblically, you’re able to knit your soul with the soul of a brother.  Phil didn’t love Kevin this way.

Your relationship with your spouse.  You’ll love your wife, Eph 5:28, 5:33.  When you love yourself Biblically, you take better care of your life.  And when you take better care of your life you take better care of your wife.

Your relationship with your body.  You’ll nourish and cherish your body, Eph 5:29, to nourish is to nurture, to promote the growth of, to sustain with nutriment, to maintain; to cherish is to hold dear, to keep or cultivate with care and affection.  The body that your soul has.  Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

Conclusion: don’t love yourself as 2 Tim 3:2.  Love your soul as Prov 19:8 and watch your relationship with God, your brethren, your spouse, and your own body grow in proportion.