Jesus: The Ultimate Self-Help Guru

It is almost inconceivable that a poor man from a poor region of a small, conquered country could go on to found the largest religion on the planet. A 2012 Pew Research study found that almost 32% of the world’s population identifies as “Christian” in some capacity. What did Jesus teach people that made his message so compelling, even today?

In one word: Love. In the gospels, we see Jesus loving and forgiving everyone with whom he had contact. Those who were willing to accept his love and forgiveness experienced miraculous healing and well-being that transformed their lives. Those who chose not to accept the Christ-love often “went away sad” (Matthew 19:22), while the people in power plotted to kill Jesus because of his radical “love” message (John 11:48).

Jesus called people to love themselves, and then to allow that love to spill over into loving all the people around them (Mark 12:31). This was a major departure from the religious teachings of his day, which focused on rule-following and punishment for those who did not conform (Mark 2:27).  We are no different today. Psychologist Carl Jung wrote, “Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.” We do to others that which we do to ourselves.

Jesus is still calling us to radical love today. When we love ourselves, we will find it easier to accomplish our goals, from losing weight to finding a new job. When we are full of healthy self-love, we find it easier to deal with a difficult co-worker or cranky child. By feeling good about ourselves, we can also feel good about the people around us. We don’t experience the power-plays of others in the same way anymore.  When we remember that Jesus said, “neither do I condemn you,” (John 8:11), we can stop the critical voice in our heads.

Let’s be encouraged by the radical love of Jesus today. When that little voice inside your head wants to criticize you for some mistake, stop it immediately, and change the thought. Tell yourself, “I am loved by God–flaws and mistakes and all.” When we want to criticize or reprimand the people in our lives, take a minute to remember that Jesus did not “condemn” people. Rather, he loved them into a new way of being, as we see in his directive “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). By practicing radical love, we will find more peace and fulfillment in life, which is the ultimate aim of “self-help”.