The unconditional love of a well cared for dog, never fails to amaze me. Their intentions are pure, always to please you. They think you are the bee’s knees, the cat’s pyjamas, the ant’s pants – the absolutely the BEST THING to happen to them! For that reason, they’re hopelessly devoted to you. Reflecting on the beautiful blessing that a dog is today I couldn’t help but think ‘what if we loved ourselves as much as our dogs loved us?’…’what if we saw ourselves in the same light our dogs do?’
The way your dogs sees you
Nueroimaging science has found dogs love you and look to you as their affectionate, loving protective family! Amongst other wonderful things, I think a dog sees his/her owner as:
- awesome,
- strong,
- capable,
- loving,
- caring,
- a great protector, and
- a great comforter
NO MATTER WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE, OR WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH.
Honey’s thinking ‘Mum, you’re lucky I love you or I wouldn’t be here in this ridiculous jacket for this photo’
What if we viewed ourselves in the same light our dogs do?
Here’s what might happen:
- we would love ourselves no matter what we looked like, or what we achieved (or didn’t achieve),
- we would have less fear because we would know that no matter what happened we were strong and capable,
- we would trust our instinct (yiew!),
- we would care for and love our bodies,
- we would be free to love others without comparison because we were completely confident that were were enough, just as we are.
Having a positive self worth is so important for being able to free yourself of worry and to LIVE with joy, no matter what life throws at you.
A deeper love comparison for an even deeper self love
As I was writing this, I then thought about God’s love for us which is even greater than a dog’s love. His love isn’t shaped by us first “nuturing him well” as a good dog needs. Even good dogs that are hungry or bored, can be naughty and make us angry with their behaviour. We don’t have to do anything to make sure God’s love is unconditional, steady and unchanging. He loves us simply because he created us. How beautiful is that?
‘But what about all those rules in the Bible Amy? Don’t we have to do those for God?’ Well they are there as a blueprint to doing life well. Once you begin to understand the nature of God’s infinite and amazing love you will (like a good dog does to his owner) just want to love Him back and please him. It’s our choice to follow those as we value a relationship with Christ because he first loved us.
So not only should we be loving ourselves as our dog sees us, but also look to love ourselves in the same way God does because that is an even more powerful thought.
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Amy Darcy
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