13. 242
Self-love is more opaque than a solid body. In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error, — self-will, self-justification, and self-love, — which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death.
It was said at a recent Roundtable, essentially, “If you can’t love yourself, you can’t truly love others.” Today I realized the need to understand the difference between loving yourself versus self-love.
Herbert Eustace, on page 897 of Clear, Correct Teaching:
…consider Mrs. Eddy’s statement in her original work, Science of Man: “Matter held as shadow is the idea of God, but matter held as substance is a belief and error.”
You know that a shadow, followed back, always leads you to what it is shadowing forth and brings you to its own original substance. It can never appear without an origin. It can not be present through any inherent quality of its own.
Mrs. Eddy’s words from Miscellany, page 233:
The Scriptures say, “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6: 14), thus taking the name of God in vain.
This has me seeing that “Self, self where there is no Self” is taking the name of God in vain. Correctly loving myself therefore begins with the recognition that my individuality is in God, as there is no self apart from Him. Love for myself and others comes naturally at that point, as we are all indivisible from divine Love, and not only is there no other self there, this is no other Love.
Christ Jesus (John 5:30):
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Thank you!