Feb 1 Daily Devotional

Feb 1: Self-Love

  • Scripture: Matthew 22:39 – And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
  • Reflection: Sometimes we don’t notice that embedded in the second of the two greatest commandments is care for the self. God calls us to love ourselves in a healthy way, recognizing our worth as children of God. This applies to every individual, every human. We must take care of ourselves in order to be present to anyone else.
    This is also a caution that sacrifice of self must be tempered. You can give of yourself, but do so with moderation, so that you have sufficient reserves and resources to have balance and wellbeing.
  • Spiritual Practice: Write down three things you appreciate about yourself.

SONGS:


The Connection Between Self-Care and Mental Health, Psychology Today, full article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/a-deeper-wellness/202302/understanding-the-mental-health-and-self-care-connection

Self-care may seem like nothing more than the latest buzzword or passing trend, but in reality, it is a commitment to ourselves—a promise to factor ourselves into the equation of our lives. When we optimize self-care, we feel better, look better, and have more energy. And quality self-care is linked to improved mental health, with benefits like enhanced self-esteem and self-worth, increased optimism, a positive outlook on life, and lower levels of anxiety and depression…
We’re all we have, and we owe it to ourselves to take care of our physical and mental health. While we don’t set out to do ourselves harm, self-care often ends up last on the list of priorities in our busy lives…

5 steps for enhancing self-care

We need to understand that we can step back, press pause, and direct our energy on taking care of ourselves. We need to realize that we can choose to live our lives in a way that supports and optimizes both our physical and mental health, fitness, and well-being!

  1. Make quality a priority in your life. Quality food, rest, and time to connect with friends, family, and ourselves feeds, repairs, and restores the body, mind, and spirit.
  2. Pay attention to your thoughts. Challenge negative selftalk, fears, and feelings of inadequacy.
  3. Be as nice to yourself as you are to others. We’re often our harshest critics and most relentless worst enemies.
  4. Start saying no to requests to help others when you are running on empty or don’t have the time to take care of your own need.
  5. Stay connected to yourself. Engage in an activity or experience that brings you joy, no matter how briefly. Sit in the sunshine. Listen to a favorite song. Meet a friend. Walk in nature. Simply do something that brings joy and love and keeps you connected to yourself.
Feb 1 Daily Devotional
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