When I think of the concept of Love Yourself to Life, it involves not waiting until others give me permission to enjoy life. We shouldn’t wait on certain events to happen in our lives to decide that the time is right to do things that fulfill our lives and bring us enjoyment. We shouldn’t wait on everything to be “just right” for us to try something new. The truth of the matter is, you may never get to the point in which everything is “just right”. There will always be that one thing that you want to update and change.
People, Places, Things
To Love Yourself to Life, you must be willing to do an assessment of the people, places, and things that are not helping you to grow. Once the assessment is completed, you may realize that there are some things that need to change in your life for you to unapologetically Love Yourself to Life. This includes letting some people, places, and things go…cutting them off…walking away…and making a firm decision that the change is necessary for your growth. “He cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit. He also trims every branch that produces fruit to prepare it to produce even more.” John 15:2 ERV
People: Make sure that you have constructive support in your circle. Are you holding on to a relationship that is not flourishing? “Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.” Proverbs 13:20 MSG
Places: Evaluate everywhere that you spend your time as some places may actually be draining your energy and not beneficial to the purposes placed in your heart. “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” Proverbs 20:5 NIV
Things: Whatever you’re focusing on or thinking about will have an influence on how you live life out loud. Negative things will bring negative results. In the same sense, positive things will bring positive results. This includes not focusing on things in the past that will prevent you from moving forward. “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13b NLT
Vision, Dreams, and Goals
To Love Yourself to Life includes not waiting on others to support your vision, dreams, and goals. The truth of the matter is, they may not know how to support you. They may also not want you to succeed past their level and may begin to discourage you and produce negativity within you that you aren’t capable of being successful. “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10 NLT
- Identify areas in your life you need to make adjustments in order to Love Yourself to Life.
- What steps do you need to take to excel in the areas you identified?
- In considering the need to prune some people, places, and things; how would your life change if these attachments no longer existed?
Making changes is necessary to Love Yourself to Life. As quoted by Leon Brown:
