by Deb Trojak

“What do you do for you?”

 

I was asked this question recently and it made me pause. We, as a culture, have begun to promote self-love and self-care. They are concepts that say you should take care of yourself first—taking time to do the things you enjoy, to refresh yourself—so that you can then care for others.

 

These are seemingly harmless ideas and ones that make complete sense if you’re coming from a secular perspective. But I’ll admit, every time I hear someone talking about them in a positive light, I cringe internally. To be perfectly honest, I have no problem with self-love. In fact, that is my problem. I love myself way too much. My human nature is such that I am constantly at war with myself. If I have the option to take the bigger piece of pie…I’m gonna take it. It is only Christ’s admonishment that I should love others as greater than myself that keeps me (somewhat) in check.

 

I’m not saying that taking time for yourself is a bad thing, but when I am faced with the concept of self-care, I keep coming back to Jesus’ example. In Luke 5:16 it says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” And this is not just a one time thing. Repeatedly, Jesus takes the time to get alone with God.

 

I need to follow my Savior’s example of self-care. There’s nothing wrong with setting aside time to do things that I enjoy, but those things are not going to rejuvenate me and allow me to pour into others’ lives the way that some alone time with God will.

What could be more refreshing and altering than spending time focused, not on myself, but on the One who actually has the ability to change me?