Do You Love Me?

At its base, some would say poker is a selfish game. The object in a tournament is to gain everyone else's chips. As long as we remember it's only a game, we think there can be some balance there.

But how self-serving should we be? We asked in a recent post if it's wrong to love yourself. The greatest example of love we know had something to say about that - perhaps in a context you hadn't considered before:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:12

Jesus is reciting what some call the "golden rule." We normally think about the outgoing aspect of that, and we absolutely should. But how would you "have" others "do" things "to you?"

A masochist might want to be insulted and shamed at a poker table. We've heard that way of thinking called a "martyrdom complex" - and at one point Jesus seems to encourage that approach:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:10

But Jesus also said He overcame the world (John 16:33) - and He wants us to have the hope of overcoming as well.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. - Psalm 42:5

One frequently-quoted Bible promise is that God will complete the work He's begun in you (Philippians 1:6). If you love God for what He's doing in you, that can be the proper kind of "self-love" - and one you can share with other people.