We often hear that it is important to love yourself—that to love others we first must love ourselves. But what does that mean? 

Most world religions teach that we should “do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matthew 7:12, New Living Translation). Christian churches call this the Golden Rule that Christ Jesus taught. He also taught, “Love your neighbor as yourself” and said this was the second of two great commandments. The first, and greatest, is, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” (Matthew 22:37–39, NLT).

In the context of these biblical commandments, loving ourselves means much more than just feeling good about who we are—and it doesn’t mean we’re being selfish. It’s a divine demand to understand and love our true selfhood as we grow in our understanding of and love for God. The Bible’s book of First John states, “God is love” (4:16) and the Christian Science textbook expands on this: “ ‘God is Love.’ More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go”
(Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 6). To love ourselves is to know our true individuality as the expression of God, infinite Spirit—to know our true, spiritual nature.