Back in the 1990s, wearing a WWJD bracelet was all the rage in high schools and church youth groups across the USA.

WWJD was a fun and catchy acronym for: What Would Jesus Do?

Before they made an important decision, or reacted irrationally in the moment, young people were encouraged to pause and ask themselves: "What would Jesus do in this situation?"

Fast forward to today, and many of those Nineties kids are now full-grown adults. With jobs and bills and heartbreaks and regrets. Some are in the midst of an existential crisis. Some are raising kids or teens of their own.

Many adults, of all ages, often wonder what they should do or change to live a better, happier, more fulfilling Life. As I discuss in my Self Love miniseries on my Fascinating with Sasha Tobago podcast, per my journalistic research, falling deeply in Love with yourself is the #1 most important thing you must do in your Lifetime, if you want to life your best and happiest Life.

Unfortunately, most religious institutions ignore or downplay the importance of Self Love. Because too many of them are more interested in exploiting your money and your labor via control tactics like guilt, shame and fear.

In Truth, the importance of Self Love is not only Biblical, it is something Jesus said you absolutely, positively MUST do — which I explain in this revised excerpt from the miniseries:

In the Book of Mark, Jesus is quoted as saying that the Ten Commandments can be condensed into two commandments. He basically made like a Twitter post, a tweet version, of the Ten Commandments.

He said, number one: love the lord your god with all your heart and your soul and mind and body and strength. And number two: love your neighbor as yourself.

So let's hone in on the "love your neighbor as yourself" part. If you grew up in America or in a Christian family, there is good chance you've heard that expression before. So let's break this down...

First, it's important for me to know that the word, "neighbor" is anyone who isn't you. So, not just someone who lives next to you or someone who lives down the road. No, your neighbor is anyone who isn't you. So that includes your parents, your siblings, your significant other, your children, as well as your coworkers, strangers on the street, waiters in a restaurant, your flight attendant, your pilot, et cetera.

Anyone who isn't you is your neighbor. And you're supposed to love your neighbor, how?

As you Love yourself.

Basically, that phrase is putting them together. It's like you and everyone else are conjoined twins, directly tied to one another — whether you like it or not! And in that phrase, both your neighbor — a.k.a., everyone else — and you have somewhat equal weight.

But the emphasis is on You; and your Love for yourself. Because, how are you supposed to love your neighbor? In the same way that you actively Love yourself. How you Love yourself is the barometer for your capacity and ability to you truly Love your neighbor.

So if you don't have a lot of Love for Yourself, if you have self loathing or self hate, you are not going to be able to Love your neighbor — a.k.a., everyone else — the way that you should. Because you do not have a depth of Self Love, which empowers to Love and treat other people genuinely.

🎙️ Listen to the full episode

Is Self Love the Greatest Love of All? — Whitney Houston, Jesus and You (Self Love Part 1)