Real Joy

JOY- Jesus Others You right? I think not.  I know many of us were brought up that way. However, thats not was Torah says, or even what Yeshua says. The actual statement is “Love your neighbor as yourself”. How can we love others if we don’t love ourself? Many of us with kids have no problem telling them that G-d loves them just the way they are. So why do we not see that it is true for us as well? Many people I know tend to say that they are valuable or loveable because of Yeshua’s gift of salvation. While I do not disagree with the fact that if it weren’t for Yeshua we would have no salvation I think we are missing something. G-d loved us from the beginning. He created us in His image. He also gave each of us special gifts and talents as part of who we are. Yet many times we focus only on how sinful or imperfect we are.  That is not what G-d intended.  Several places in the scriptures we see Him referring to himself as our father. Fathers do not want to see their children viewing themselves as unlovable and only deserving love ‘ when they ‘do good’. During the ten days of awe its easy to focus only on the negatives, all the while forgetting who our father is. The sole purpose of Yom Kippur is one of healing. Healing our relationships with one another and with G-d. To do that we must first focus on our ourselves. We can not truly love another until we see our value as well. All of us are special. All of us are loved , just as we are, no ‘proving it” required. Love and forgiveness go hand in hand.  Let both be part of our focus every day.  Remember G-d loves us, we do not need to be afraid.