PERSPECTIVES
How to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself specified page. The caricature was of a man sitting on a bench with his head in his hands and it said, “Be gentle on yourself.” I appreciated greatly the gift and the sentiment. Obviously, the member wanted me not to be too hard on myself and to be thankful in season and out.
M
ark 12:29-31 is a passage most of you know by heart. When Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important, these verses give His answer. “The most important one,” Jesus said, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord
GARY THURBER is president of the Mid-America Union.
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OUTLOOKMAG.ORG JUNE 2017
natural laws of health • Spend time in God’s creation • Take time to cultivate a walk with God through prayer, Bible study and worship • Serve others
In turn, if we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, Christ’s model for how this gives us a short-list of to treat ourselves and ways we can do that. others • See all people as sons and daughters of God Do any of you have a ten• Introduce them to our dency to be hard on yourloving, forgiving God selves? Perhaps you, too, need • Assure them God is in to learn self-compassion. charge and has a plan for I think it is important to their lives understand how we can love • Help them to be gentle your God with all your heart ourselves because according and forgiving of themand with all your soul and to Christ, that is to be the selves no matter their with all your mind and with model for how we treat our journey all your strength.’ The second neighbors. This is an awk• Encourage and teach is this: ‘Love your neighward topic, because we all them the eight natural bor as yourself.’ There is no tend to want to stay away laws of health commandment greater than from people who are “in love • Inspire them to embrace these.” with themselves.” However, their Creator and spend This issue of OUTLOOK there is a distinct difference time in His creation focuses on building peace between being in love with • Invite and mentor them with our world community, yourself and being kind, gento cultivate their walk so I want to spotlight the tle and loving to yourself. with God through second law of which Christ This is by no means a comprayer, Bible study and spoke. plete list, but here are a few worship At our farewell gathering ways we can—and should— • Encourage them to love from a church I pastored near love ourselves: their neighbors as themKansas City almost 30 years • Bask in the knowledge selves and serve them ago, a church member gave we are sons and daughme a book with short sayings ters of God If we do these things, I and caricatures illustrating • Know that when we believe we will be well on our them. The member told me to confess our sins God way to building peace with look at a certain page in the forgives us our world community. book because it conveyed the • Forgive ourselves Gary Thurber is president of the message the member wanted • Believe God has a plan Mid-America Union. to send to me. for our lives no matter I was curious about the what the world throws message, so the first thing our way I did when I got home • Take care of our physwas open the book to the ical self using the eight