Self-love has become a cultural obsession, but most of what passes for it is just narcissism dressed in therapeutic language. We’re told to love ourselves unconditionally, put ourselves first always, and never let anyone make us feel bad about our choices. On the other extreme, some Christians treat any form of self-regard as sinful pride, as if hating yourself is somehow more holy than accepting yourself.
But Scripture presents a different picture. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves, which assumes a baseline of healthy self-regard. You can’t properly love others if you despise yourself. God created you in His image, chose you, redeemed you at incredible cost, and declares you valuable. Rejecting that truth isn’t humility. It’s calling God a liar about what He’s made and what He’s done.
These verses reveal what it means to love yourself God’s way, which is entirely different from the world’s self-obsessed version or religion’s self-loathing alternative. True self-love is rooted in understanding your identity in Christ and accepting yourself the way God accepts you.
Bible Verses About Loving Yourself God’s Way
1. Matthew 22:39 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
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2. Ephesians 5:29 – No One Ever Hated Their Own Body
After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church.
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3. Psalm 139:14 – I Am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
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4. Genesis 1:27 – God Created Mankind in His Own Image
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
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5. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Your Bodies Are Temples of the Holy Spirit
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
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6. Ephesians 2:10 – We Are God’s Handiwork
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
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7. 1 John 3:1 – See What Great Love the Father Has Lavished on Us
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
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8. Romans 12:3 – Do Not Think of Yourself More Highly Than You Ought
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
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9. Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I Formed You in the Womb I Knew You
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
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10. 2 Corinthians 5:17 – The Old Has Gone, the New Is Here
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
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11. 1 Peter 2:9 – You Are a Chosen People
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
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12. Romans 8:1 – No Condemnation for Those in Christ Jesus
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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13. Zephaniah 3:17 – He Will Take Great Delight in You
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.
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14. Isaiah 43:4 – You Are Precious and Honored in My Sight
Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.
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15. Philippians 1:6 – He Who Began a Good Work in You
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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16. Colossians 3:12 – As God’s Chosen People, Holy and Dearly Loved
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
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17. Ephesians 1:4 – He Chose Us in Him Before the Creation of the World
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.
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18. Psalm 139:13-16 – You Knit Me Together in My Mother’s Womb
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
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19. Galatians 2:20 – The Son of God, Who Loved Me and Gave Himself for Me
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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20. 1 Corinthians 3:16 – You Yourselves Are God’s Temple
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
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21. Romans 5:8 – God Demonstrates His Own Love for Us
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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22. 1 Timothy 4:4 – Everything God Created Is Good
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.
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23. Philippians 4:8 – Whatever Is Lovely, Whatever Is Admirable
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
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24. John 15:16 – You Did Not Choose Me, but I Chose You
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
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25. 2 Timothy 1:7 – God Has Not Given Us a Spirit of Fear
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
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26. Hebrews 10:14 – By One Sacrifice He Has Made Perfect Forever
For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
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27. Psalm 8:4-5 – You Made Them a Little Lower Than the Angels
What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
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28. Romans 8:37 – We Are More Than Conquerors
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
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29. 1 Corinthians 12:18 – God Has Placed Each Part in the Body Just as He Wanted
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
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30. Ephesians 2:4-5 – Because of His Great Love for Us
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
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31. Psalm 103:12 – As Far as the East Is From the West
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
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32. John 1:12 – He Gave the Right to Become Children of God
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
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33. Romans 8:16-17 – The Spirit Himself Testifies That We Are God’s Children
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
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34. 1 John 4:10 – This Is Love
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
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35. Philippians 3:20 – Our Citizenship Is in Heaven
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Loving Yourself God’s Way
Loving yourself God’s way means accepting how He sees you, not how you feel about yourself on any given day. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, created in God’s image, chosen before the foundation of the world, and so valuable that God gave His Son to redeem you. That’s not pride. That’s the truth. Rejecting that truth isn’t humility. It’s calling God a liar about what He’s made and what He’s done.
This doesn’t mean thinking you’re perfect or never acknowledging areas where you need to grow. Biblical self-love is thinking of yourself with sober judgment, recognizing both your value as God’s creation and your need for His grace. It’s taking care of your body because it’s the temple of the Holy Spirit. It’s refusing to constantly condemn yourself when God has declared there’s no condemnation for those in Christ.
The command to love your neighbor as yourself assumes you have a baseline of healthy self-regard. You can’t give away what you don’t have. If you despise yourself, you’ll struggle to genuinely love others. But when you understand your identity in Christ and accept yourself the way God accepts you, you’re freed to love others from a place of wholeness.
Say This Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to see myself the way You see me. Forgive me for believing lies about my worth, for rejecting what You’ve created, and for despising what You’ve declared valuable. Teach me what it means to love myself Your way, not the world’s way or through the lens of self-hatred.
Thank You for creating me in Your image, for choosing me, and for loving me enough to send Jesus to die for me. Help me to accept that truth deep in my soul. When I’m tempted to despise myself, remind me that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. When I’m tempted to think too highly of myself, help me remember that it’s all by grace.
Give me a healthy, biblical view of myself. Help me to take care of my body as Your temple, to think of myself with sober judgment, and to rest in my identity as Your beloved child. Let me love myself the way You love me, so I can genuinely love others from a place of wholeness.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.