Love. A word that is so impactful but not wildly given especially to oneself. Love as 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 puts it is,

If this is what love is and how it should be, then can we use this to model how self-love should be? In breaking down the passage verse by verse, we can use this to model how we should love ourselves.

Love is Patient.

Be patient with yourself, life is not a race. Everything that is supposed to happen for you, will happen in God’s timing.  

Love is Kind.

Be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go to the way you would like for it to go.

It does not Envy.

Jealousy and envy are two toxic emotions. Do not allow for it to seep into your life and ruin you.

It does not Boast.

We are not the owners of what we possess. God has blessed us with what we have so we cannot boast about it. Paul says it best in Ephesians 2, “Not as a result or works, so that no one may boast.” “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

It is not Proud.

This goes hand and hand with boasting. We cannot be proud to where we can’t help one another.  Pride is not a quality of Christ. When one is prideful, it is hard to relate to others and when it comes to developing relationships with others.

In summary of the next 3 verses, Gods love never fails. He wants you to value yourself and know how amazing you are. He wants you to find comfort in knowing that he has you. Yes, you will not always feel the best, some days will be harder than others, but we can have joy and live in peace knowing that God's love surpasses all love. Christ wants us to love ourselves and hold our heads up high as believers of the Most High. Every time you read 1 Corinthians 13, try to think of how this love could be applied to yourself and your life. How can you love yourself more? How can you be more patient, kind, compassionate to yourself? Before you can love anyone else, you have to be able to love yourself.