My Own Best Friend

A friend loves at all times….. Proverbs‬ ‭17:17‬a

As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs‬ ‭27:17‬

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew‬ ‭22:39‬

There are times when I mess up that I can be overly critical of myself. The thoughts in my mind are self-defeating words I would never say to a dear friend to help them get past or improve upon their blunder.

There are times when I need guidance that I give myself bad advice that I would never consider giving any friend. For some reason I think my circumstances are the exception to the rule so the obvious answer doesn’t apply to me because I presume I can handle it better than others.

There are times when I need to make a solid decision and the answer is just not clear. I am too emotionally involved to make that decision. Feelings are clouding my judgment.

There are times when I just need to step back and be my own best friend. It’s a technique I use to help myself focus on the words I need to hear, give myself sound advice, and make better decisions when I’m too emotionally involved. 

I ask myself, “How would I encourage or advise a friend who is going through the same thing?” 

This question forces me to back up from my own emotional ties and excuses to see situations from a big picture perspective with more logic, understanding, and compassion. It brings clarity to the support or answers I need that push me to become a more vibrant person.

There are times when we just need to be our own best friend. A good, valuable friend loves at all times with compassion and sharpens our countenance by their keen character and sound advice. We are tremendouly blessed to have friends in our lives to do this, but we can also learn to do it for ourselves to help minimize our self-defeating thoughts and decisions. Doing this can open the door to a better future in our service to God and others. For many of us, loving ourselves can be harder than loving others. However, can we really grasp what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves when we don’t first love ourselves?

Prayer:
My loving Father, I thank you for the friends that love, support, and counsel me in a godly manner. They see the good in me yet tell me what I need to hear to make me even better. Help me to learn to be this for myself so that I will gain more confidence in my service to You in making better decisions. It is through Christ that I learn what it means to put away self-defeating thoughts to become the person who loves myself so that I can love my neighbor even more as Jesus did. In Him, amen.

Truth in love,
Heather