CHANGE YOUR STORY WITH KIRSTIN LEIGH Self-Indulgence—the Imposter of Self-Love BY KIRSTIN LEIGH All things are permitted, but not all things are profitable. All things are permitted, but not all things build people up. (1 Corinthians 10:23 NASB) “Calgon, take me away!” Do you remember the famous Calgon commercials? The woman relaxing in a bathtub of overflowing bubbles, convincing us that Calgon would take away all of our troubles? What about the splashy magazine ads that we see every day sporting models dressed in exquisite clothes carrying shopping bags with “You Deserve It” written in swirling letters across the top? Or the happy people boozing it up on billboards saying things like, “The Time is Now, Have Fun, Enjoy Life!” Do you know people who indulge in a massive ice cream sundae topped with whipped cream and every topping imaginable after being on a diet for a week? Have you ever been this person? I have! I’ve overindulged in everything I mentioned more than once, often in the name of self-love. And at times, it was fun—for the moment! But adding to the debt I was trying to eliminate, waking up with a headache and regrets, and indulging in unhealthy food…well, none of it felt very loving the next day. Don’t get me wrong, bubble baths are great. And who doesn’t love a new outfit? A new outfit for a specific occasion can give us a boost. And sometimes—for some people—drinks and sugar are fine. But the point is, when we overindulge in some of the things we often associate with self-love, they can actually lead us to think less of ourselves. I’m not talking about being perfect or never treating ourselves, but about getting to the root of what it really means to love ourselves. Our culture focuses on the “self” part of self-love and often encourages us to do things that have nothing to do with loving ourselves. It has perverted the term to the extent that, as believers, we often tune out when we hear the expression self-love. Yet the Bible tells us in Mark 12:31 that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. How can we do this if we don’t know how to love ourselves? In 1 Corinthians 3:16 we learn that our body is a temple, that God’s Spirit
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Our culture focuses on the “self” part of self-love and often encourages us to do things that have nothing to do with loving ourselves.
