I love the line from TALK’s song “Happy.” It resonates with me because it reminds us of something simple, yet often overlooked—that we are worthy of love, and that learning to love ourselves is part of the life we’re meant to live. In my lowest moments, I didn’t much like myself—let alone love myself.
Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves as worthy of love?
Maybe it’s because we’re taught to love and care for others first, to sacrifice, to give—while quietly withholding that same grace from ourselves.
I think about my mom.
She was a beautiful woman—truly. My dad was a handsome man, and together they had some good-looking kids. Not from a place of ego, just the reality of what people would say. People out of the blue would compliment my sisters on their beauty, my brothers for being handsome. It was not an occasional occurence.
But my mom—who gave her entire adult life to her family—would say things like, “My eyes are too small,” or “I hate my smile.” She would also make fun of her personality as being awkward or she she was a little slow in getting jokes. Little cuts against herself that, even as a kid, didn’t make sense to me. I remember thinking, Why would she say that?
And without realizing it, we absorbed that same way of seeing ourselves.
What’s amazing is that this same woman never held back love for me. Up until her last days, she would tell me:
“Yannie, you’re so handsome. You have a special gift with people. You’re smart. You’re going to do something great.”
The compliments poured out of her like I was running for office.
Yet she couldn’t extend that same love to herself.
And the truth is—so many of us are just like her.
I heard it from others all the time—how kind she was, how beautiful she was, how she carried herself like someone twenty years younger. She was all of that and more. She was worthy of love.
But she didn’t fully believe it.
And maybe that’s the trap we all fall into.
The good news is this: God doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves. He doesn’t measure us by our insecurities, our past, or the lies we’ve picked up along the way. We were created in His image—already worthy, already loved.
We don’t have to earn it.
Love is given freely.
And maybe real self-love isn’t pride or ego. Maybe it’s simply agreeing with God. Seeing ourselves the way He sees us.
Because when we learn to love ourselves—not in arrogance, but in truth—it changes everything. The way we love others, the way we show up, the way we live.
Salvation isn’t something we chase outward.
It’s an inside job.
Right where the soul lives—untouched by shame, untouched by doubt, untouched by the wounds of this world.
See yourself as God sees you.
Whole. Loved. Enough.
Here today—and for eternity.
And “Momma, I know you’re in heaven and beautiful as ever… and now, you know.”
Scripture:
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
— Psalm 139:14
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
— 1 John 3:1
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Help me to see myself the way You see me—created with purpose, worthy of love, and fully known by You. Quiet the voice within me that tears me down, and replace it with Your truth. Teach me to receive love as freely as You give it, and to walk in the confidence of being Your child. From that place, let me love others well.
Amen.
