That truth is simply this: I need to love myself.
Sounds sorta crazy and self-centered, right? Well, something that I've thought about a lot is the time when Jesus told his disciples to "love your neighbor as yourself." He didn't say "love your neighbor and hate yourself" or "love your neighbor more than yourself." He said, "as yourself."
I'm not saying that I should "love" myself in a proud "I'm so great, look at me" sort of way...but rather an "Oh God, who You purposed me to be is so beautifully glorious!" kind of way.
To put it another way, I'm learning that I need to treasure myself. ...See myself as valuable, take care of myself just as I would a dear friend. I need to give myself grace when I mess up - oh, and I know I mess up all the time. The other night my dad brought up a thoughtful way to look at forgiveness. The decision to forgive means allowing a person to be imperfect and realizing that they're on a journey. In that sense, I need to forgive myself.
Today as I was thinking about all this, a question came into my mind: If God, who is absolutely perfect and knows about all my sin, loves, pursues, and prioritizes me...then who am I to hate myself?
It's pretty obvious that hating myself hurts me, but I'm also starting to see that it destroys the well-being of my relationships. There was a childcare team member that I loved working with over the summer. Pip (her camp name) exuded such a contagious joy each and every day. It was like she was saying with her life, "this is who I am and I'm not afraid to live it out. Actually I enjoy who I am." Ever since I got to know her, this truth has stuck in my mind: to love others freely, I have to love myself freely.
Last thought... I was talking with a friend about the subject of friendship recently, and it dawned on me that in any relationship I give of myself - yes, my time and all that, but most of all, myself. So I have to see myself as a gift worth giving or I won't have healthy relationships. I'll either throw myself at anyone who'll give me a little attention or I'll hide who I am because I believe that I'm not worth getting to know. I have to see myself as precious.
Right now I'm in the process of letting God wash away all that isn't me - all the lies and fears and times that I've tried to be something I'm not. It's hard. But it's also amazing. God is amazing.