If we have been taught by parents or others that we are not worth love we may also think our love is of no value for others. Then it is important to understand that how I was treated had nothing to do with me personally and that "my love" is not mine, but Gods and that everyone wants that love.
A lot of people say: "Love yourself", but what does it mean? If you ask people what love is you will get a lot of different answers. So I think about the highest forms of love I can imagine and ask: How is Gods love for me? God wants me to forget myself and love others. That is a form of self love right there. Cause who am I? I can't know that before I forget myself and express myself to others. And if I want to serve God; Be loving towards others, love is what I will be. When I love others I want to take care of their most important needs. I want to assist them to be more free, wise and loving. To love myself would then also mean to respect my most important needs, to not let fear stop me and to follow my calling.
If you want to love yourself so that you become more free, loving and happy, then forgetting yourself and loving others is the key. If you want to love others and develop spiritually God will assist you.
To love ourselves we must know ourselves. A person who identify herself with her appearance will take care of her appearance. A person who think she is only her body will take care of its needs when she loves herself, but will she be happy? Others identify with their thoughts or emotions. What we identify ourselves with determines how we live our life and how happy we are. A spiritual person will love her spiritual qualities and make sure they blossom. It also makes a difference to think of oneself as a daughter or son of God because then you are more capable of receiving love from God. You get thankful for Gods love and are then happy to share that love to others.
