Hello and welcome to Meditation Time.
My name is James Whittaker.
Today we will be doing a practice to show self-compassion to ourselves and then turn that outwards to others.
Self-compassion is defined as extending compassion to oneself in instances of perceived inadequacy,
Failure or general suffering.
Self-compassion is composed of three core elements.
Self-kindness,
Common humanity and mindfulness.
Self-compassion may sound like self-indulgence or may feel like a weakness.
It is actually the secret to resilience,
Strength in the face of failure,
The ability to learn from mistakes and return to our next challenge with greater enthusiasm.
As Christians we usually steer clear of anything that seems self-indulgent or focused on ourselves.
If we use self-compassion through a filter of Jesus Christ it will actually help us to fulfill the second greatest commandment.
In Matthew 22,
36-40 it says,
Teacher,
Which commandment in the law is the greatest?
Jesus answered him,
Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart,
With all the energy of your being and with every thought that is within you.
This is the greatest and most supreme commandment and the second is like it in importance.
You must love your friend in the same way that you love yourself.
Contained within these commandments to love you will find all of the meaning of the law of the prophets.
We need to love others the way we love ourselves.
If we don't combat the negative,
Judgmental and critical thoughts we all have,
We can't live up to this commandment.
Today we will use a meditation practice I use daily to show self-compassion,
Bring God into it and then turn that compassion outward to others.
Let's start with prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for sending your Son to redeem us.
We pray you will give us reminders of your love and grace daily.
We pray we will learn to love ourselves the way you see us and turn that love outward to others.
Give us the strength to combat the negative thoughts of the devil.
Calm our hearts,
Calm our minds,
Calm our breath.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
We are now going to deeply focus on our breath.
Start by just being with your breath.
In and out.
Don't change anything.
Just focus on where you feel it and how it feels.
For instance,
How does it feel in the space between your mouth and your nose?
Is it cold air or is it warm?
Let's settle into these thoughts.
Okay now we are going to make our breath even more balanced.
Please follow along.
In through your nose.
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth.
Long and slow.
In through your nose.
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth.
Long and slow.
Gently close your eyes.
In through your nose.
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth.
Long and slow.
In through your nose.
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth.
Long and slow.
Let your breathing return to its normal rhythm.
If you find yourself distracted during the meditation,
You can return to this breath practice.
First,
Think of a friend you love and care about.
How do you feel?
If that friend messed up,
How would you treat them?
How would God view them?
In Psalms 55,
22 it says,
So here's what I've learned through it all.
Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of our Lord,
And measureless grace will strengthen you.
With these thoughts in mind,
Remember the last time you made a mistake.
What kind of thoughts did you have?
Your thoughts about your friend probably were more positive than the ones about yourself.
Now try to align what you thought and felt about your friend with how you felt about your own mistake.
In Romans 8,
28 it says,
So we are convinced that in every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good,
For we are lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.
Now that we have started to change how we view ourselves,
It's time to turn it outwards.
In 1 Thessalonians 3,
12 it says,
And may the Lord increase your love until it overflows toward one another,
And for all people,
Just as our Lord outflows toward you.
We are going to take about five minutes here to make personal prayers to God and meditate on ways to show his love to others.
We are going to take about five minutes to make personal prayers to God and meditate You You Let's close in prayer Dear Heavenly Father Thank you for being with us today May we feel your love in a renewed way and then turn it outwards to others in Jesus name Amen Thank you for joining me today.
I hope you feel refreshed and I just want to end with a few ideas to help you continue to grow in self compassion and how to show love to others You can do the following Asking of yourself how you would treat a friend Exploring situations through writing and journaling Changing your critical self-talk Identifying what you really want And consider making a list of Bible verses that remind you of your identity in Christ God's love forgiveness and compassion for you.
I Hope these help have an amazing day God bless
