...Love Others As Yourself

"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your might and loves other as yourself."  Now I do not know if that is exactly how it goes, but this is what was playing in my head for a couple of days...and nights.  I am usually a great sleeper but when God wants my attention he seems to do it when I am trying to sleep;-) . The other night when I was awake for several hours starting at 4:00 in the morning and I was pondering this verse and I came to a NEW level of understanding for this verse.
I used to think is was as simple as 'we should loves ourselves and think good about ourselves because if we are to love others as ourself, then we better love ourself.' right?  But then I was reminded  about when I attended Christian Conference a few years ago.  We were asked to FOCUS on God. Focus on how wonderful He is, the attributes of God, and how much we LOVE him. The trick to this is taking the time to actually do it. This is why I love going to conferences... I do not have the excuse of the distractions of everyday living. Anyway, back to my story. When I was focusing on God and how truly magnificent he is and how very much I love him the most AMAZING thing happened... I felt this overflow of LOVE come back on me. I was pouring out my love on Him and He being the God of love that he is  gave it back to ME!   It was not this small little thought the "God loves me". It was  powerful and amazing!  The closest I can come to describing it is my love for my kids are when they are toddlers.  I need to tell you that I am a baby person.  My heart melts at the sight of a baby.  I am one of those weird people who love a baby's cry and someday wish to volunteer in the hospital holding babies:-).   I just felt is was important for you to know that about me to understand what I am going to say. So once again... back to the story, When my children were toddlers they were constantly getting into things and BREAKING things, especially my son.  There is something about boys and BREAKING/DESTROYING things.  The girls made horrible messes but it could usually be fixed :-)  I was busy running around keeping them safe and cleaning up after their path of destruction but when I looked into those little faces, no matter what they broke or ruined all I could see was how much I love them. At that Conference when God was showing me how much he loves me I was reminded that I might not be perfect and I make mistakes, but he is so proud of me and loves me very much!!! I believe THAT is the love we are to have for others.  NOT just that everyday "I love you" , but an overwhelming kind of love. Even those who have left a path of destruction in your life.  No one is prefect, EVERYONE makes mistake and God loves each and everyone of us. I believe LOVING ON GOD is the key to loving ourselves and loving others.  I hope you take the time to LOVE ON HIM and let me know what YOU experience.