I can say I'm an MCU fan. I love superhero movies. From the silver screen to TV series and one-shots, animated series, and YouTube theories, I follow the story continuity. And recently, Marvel has just released its latest series, Loki, and I'm loving it. 

But one of the most intriguing moments in the series is when (SPOILER ALERT JUST IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED A SINGLE EPISODE YET), Loki, our main guy, fell in love with a lady version of himself, named Sylvie. They're basically the same person, just coming from a different universe. Sounds weird right? But that's how the story goes.

Loki, as narcissistic as he is even as he was portrayed in his previous MCU appearances, really did prove how narcissistic he could be: by falling in love with a version of himself.

On several occasions, during self-improvement and relationship seminars I've attended, we were asked if ever we'd love to date and eventually marry ourselves. It is a rhetorical question that implies:

• taking God out of the equation for a while, no one knows us more than we know ourselves, and

• we would not even try to marry nor date ourselves because we know every negative trait we have. 

While it is an absurd idea to date a version of yourself, just as fictional Loki did, we could always love ourselves, and there is nothing wrong with that. 

We love ourselves first to love others

"The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:31

The second greatest commandment, according to Jesus is to love others. But look at the catch - "as yourself". Meaning, there is a standard to follow on how we should love others. 

How do we love ourselves? We treat our bodies with the best things possible. We pamper ourselves. We wear comfortable clothes. We take vitamins and exercise. We do things that make us feel better. 

When it comes to our minds, we fill it in with good thoughts and memorable experiences. We forge friendships and meaningful relationships. We do this because we love ourselves.

If this is the standard on how we should love others, thus it follows that it is not wrong to love ourselves. We help those in need because we want to be helped when we are in need. We provide shelter to the homeless or at least extend basic necessities because that's what we will give ourselves in times of distress. With the measure we use to give ourselves comfort, we use towards others as well.

It is an act of gratitude 

Loving ourselves is an act of gratitude. We take care of our bodies and our emotional and spiritual health because we value it so much. A gift that is so special to us will be given preferential treatment more than any ordinary household item. Thus, since we value our bodies, it follows that we are grateful to the One who gave them to us. And as an act of gratitude, we take care of it, for really, our lives depend on it. 

But we should do it in a way that honors God. We do not indulge in lavish pleasure and excessive pampering. There is a line that separates good stewardship from total abuse of the body for the sake of pleasure. Remember that anything in excess is no longer beneficial. 

It is not wrong to love yourself, but again, do it in a way that honors God. How should we do it? Remind yourself this: "God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:20. 

Final Thoughts

It is always good to love yourself. It should be one of our priorities. We can never be good neighbors and good followers of God if our bodies seem helpless and weak. We cannot be an effective testimony towards people when they see how poor we love ourselves. It will manifest. 

How are you going to improve your self-love, beginning today?

Hi, I am Marts! Aside from read.cash, I also run my blog - martsvalenzuela.com. I plan on growing my readership while learning to improve my craft and journey towards my passion to write and publish books that add value to people.

Carpe Diem!