“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
For years, I was unable to grieve well and as a result, I was unable to comfort well. I mistakenly thought that minimizing my own suffering was admirable — when in truth, I was denying not only my need to grieve but God’s promise to comfort me in my troubles. Without experiencing God’s comfort, I was ill-equipped to comfort others. I would use the same platitudes I spoke to myself when trying to “comfort” others who were in pain. When someone is suffering, quoting Romans 8:28 can feel more like a weapon than a salve. Truth, without compassion.
We cannot enter the grief of others until we enter our own grief and receive the comfort God promises. At times, I struggle with loving myself enough to believe that I even deserve God’s comfort. And honestly, I don’t. But because of who He is—a loving, merciful and compassionate Father, He has promised to comfort us. And, God keeps His promises.
Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27-28). Loving yourself requires learning to grieve well—recognizing and not minimizing our pain and accepting the comfort God promises. Only when we love ourselves, will we be able to love others well. Only when we allow ourselves to grieve, will we be able to comfort others with the same comfort we have received from God.
“Lord, draw us to love you more—with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength. Enable us to love others and love ourselves well. Teach us to turn to you for comfort in our suffering because you promise to comfort us and so that we can be instruments of your comfort in the lives of others.”
For His Glory
Ann Skalaski
TRBC Women’s Life
trbccoffeebreak 
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