Love Yourself a Little Extra Right Now A Legacy Article by Douglas Vandergraph
- Douglas Vandergraph
- 7 hours ago
- 7 min read
There are moments in life when the weight you’re carrying isn’t visible to anyone else, yet you feel every ounce of it pressing against your heart. Sometimes you’re the one quietly holding everything together while the world keeps pulling on you from every direction. You give, you show up, you keep moving. And if anyone asked how you’re doing, you’d probably just smile and say, “I’m okay,” even though deep inside you know you’re more tired than you’ll ever admit. Today’s message is for that version of you. The version that’s worn down, stretched thin, but still pushing forward with a strength you don’t even give yourself credit for.
You need to love yourself a little extra right now. Not because you’re fragile. Not because you’re failing. Not because you’re doing anything wrong. But because you’ve been walking through a season where you’ve needed to be strong for so long that you forgot what it feels like to be gentle with your own soul. You’ve been doing things no one sees, carrying burdens no one talks about, and holding your breath in rooms where no one even notices that you’re struggling to inhale. And yet, through all of it, God has seen every step you’ve taken.
Sometimes we treat our own hearts like they’re tools rather than temples. We push through the exhaustion. We ignore our own needs. We silence our tears. We expect ourselves to be superhuman because we don’t want to disappoint anyone or slow down the momentum that everyone else depends on. But that’s not how God created you to live. He didn’t create you to burn out. He didn’t create you to run on empty. He didn’t create you to carry everyone else’s world on your shoulders while ignoring the pain running quietly through your own chest.
God sees you. Not the polished version of you. Not the strong version of you. Not the “I’m fine, don’t worry about me” version of you. He sees the inner you. The tired you. The overwhelmed you. The one who wonders at 2 AM whether you're allowed to break down or if you should keep pretending everything is fine. He sees the silent battles, the unspoken fears, the hidden wounds, and the prayers you whisper into your pillow because you don’t want anyone else to hear.
And because God sees you, He calls you to treat yourself with the grace He already gives you every day.
There is a quiet miracle in learning how to be kind to yourself. For some people, self-kindness feels foreign, like speaking a language you were never taught. You grew up believing selflessness meant self-erasing. You created habits of being the strong one, the dependable one, the one who never breaks, never pauses, never says “I need help.” And one day you woke up and realized that while you’ve spent years taking care of everyone else, you never learned to take care of your own heart.
But listen closely: God never asked you to neglect yourself to love others. He asked you to love your neighbor as yourself. And the “as yourself” part was not an accident. It wasn’t a throwaway phrase. It was a command. God expects you to extend the same compassion, patience, tenderness, and mercy toward yourself that you offer so freely to others. That’s not selfishness. That’s alignment with how He created you.
You’ve been carrying more than you talk about. You’ve been handling responsibilities that don’t get applause. You’ve been putting out emotional fires that no one knows you’re fighting. And when the weight piles up, it becomes easy to forget that your soul also needs care. Your spirit also needs rest. Your heart also needs a safe place to land.
There are seasons where your strength becomes such a default setting that you forget it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to rest. It’s okay to breathe. It’s okay to say “I’m hurting.” It’s okay to need comfort. The strongest people in the world often hide the deepest exhaustion. They smile the brightest because they don’t want their pain to become someone else’s burden. But God whispers into the quiet parts of your heart and reminds you that you’re not a burden; you’re His child.
Think about the way Jesus treated people who were weary. He didn’t push them harder. He didn’t demand more. He didn’t shame them for being tired or broken. He invited them to rest. He said, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” That wasn’t poetic language. It was a divine prescription. He wants you to come to Him exactly as you are—tired, worn out, confused, overwhelmed, hurting—and allow Him to restore your soul.
But here’s the part many of us miss: sometimes the way God restores you begins with changing how you treat yourself.
Self-kindness is not weakness. It is wisdom. It is obedience. It is spiritual maturity. It is the recognition that if you don’t nurture your own soul, every other part of your life begins to unravel. You cannot pour from an empty cup. You cannot love from a depleted heart. You cannot encourage others while silencing your own suffering.
One of the greatest spiritual battles you face is the battle against self-neglect. The enemy doesn’t always attack through disaster. Sometimes he attacks by convincing you to ignore your own worth. If he can make you feel unworthy of care, unworthy of rest, unworthy of compassion, then he can weaken you from the inside out. But God counters that lie with overwhelming truth: you matter. Your wellbeing matters. Your inner peace matters. Your heart matters. And how you treat yourself matters to Him.
Many people treat themselves like an afterthought, giving their leftovers to their own soul. They will encourage everyone else yet speak to themselves with harshness. They will forgive others but punish themselves. They will show patience to the world yet be impatient with their own progress. They will celebrate others’ victories while ignoring their own resilience. Imagine how your life could shift if you extended the same compassion inward that you pour outward every day.
There is a part of you that has been overlooked even by you. A part of you waiting to exhale. A part of you that longs to feel worthy of your own kindness. And today, God is nudging that neglected part of your heart awake. He’s whispering, “Be gentle with yourself. I am.”
Some people are afraid to rest because they think rest means they’ll fall behind. But sometimes the only reason you’re behind is because you refused to rest. Healing requires pauses. Restoration requires stillness. Strength requires nourishment. You are not weaker for needing rest. You are wiser for honoring your limits. Even God rested on the seventh day—not because He was tired, but to show us that rest is holy.
So take a breath. Slow down. Honor the humanity God gave you. You don’t have to earn rest. You don’t have to justify healing. You don’t have to apologize for your limits. You are allowed to care for yourself without guilt.
Maybe you’ve been walking through emotional pain that no one else sees. Maybe you’ve been dealing with stress that you carry quietly. Maybe you’ve been praying for strength but haven’t realized that part of God’s answer might be: “Take care of yourself the way I take care of you.”
What would it look like if you spoke to yourself with the same tone Jesus used when He comforted the broken? What would it look like if you gave yourself room to breathe, room to grow, room to make mistakes, room to get back up? What would it look like if you allowed your heart to receive the mercy you keep giving away?
Growth doesn’t happen when you push yourself past exhaustion. Growth happens when you nurture yourself through the process. Healing doesn’t happen when you ignore your wounds. Healing happens when you give them time, attention, and gentleness. And breakthrough doesn’t happen when you destroy yourself trying to be everything to everyone. Breakthrough happens when you align your life with God’s rhythm—work when it’s time to work, rest when it’s time to rest, breathe when it’s time to breathe, heal when it’s time to heal.
You’ve spent enough of your life being hard on yourself. It is time to change the internal script. Speak blessings over your life. Speak peace over your mind. Speak strength over your spirit. Speak kindness over your heart. The words you tell yourself matter. Your inner voice must begin sounding more like God’s voice and less like your fears.
Take care of yourself. Not just physically, but emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually. Honor your boundaries. Honor your need for rest. Honor your need for love. You are not meant to be a machine. You are a living soul shaped by the hands of God.
If you are exhausted today, hear this deeply: exhaustion is not failure. Weariness is not weakness. Being overwhelmed is not a sign that you’re unspiritual. It’s a sign that you’re human. And God doesn’t call you to suppress your humanity—He calls you to bring it to Him so He can strengthen it.
God sees you. Every tear. Every sacrifice. Every quiet act of courage. Every moment you held on when you wanted to give up. Every day you chose hope even when you felt hopeless. And He is proud of you. Proud of the battles you’ve fought in silence. Proud of the storms you’ve survived. Proud of the heart you kept soft even when life tried to harden it.
So today, love yourself a little extra. Not because everything is perfect, but because you are still standing. Still growing. Still trusting. Still becoming the person God called you to be.
Be kind to yourself. Treat your heart like something God treasures—because He does. And as you do, watch how God begins strengthening you, rebuilding you, restoring you, and renewing you from the inside out.
Your friend in Christ,
Douglas Vandergraph
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