Love your neighbor as yourself – Mark 12:31
The other night I was channel-flipping when I landed on Being Eddie, a documentary about the life and career of actor, comedian, and funniest donkey in cinematic history, Eddie Murphy.
Two big thumbs up. Outstanding.
I went in with low expectations. I figured I already knew the story: kid from Brooklyn, meteoric rise, Saturday Night Live, box office domination, wild parties, mountains of coke, and then…cue the somber music…redemption. That’s the script we’ve seen play out a hundred times, right?
Boy, was I wrong.
What unfolds instead is the story of a boy who discovered early that he could make people laugh. And once he realized that, he locked in on a singular goal: be famous. Not kind-of-famous. Not “working comic” famous. World-dominating, can’t-go-grocery-shopping famous. At just nineteen, he landed on Saturday Night Live. They were “looking for a Black guy.” What they got was a cultural force of nature.
For a stretch, everything Eddie touched turned to gold. Movies. Comedy specials. Music (yes, Party All the Time happened. In fact, it hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985). He had access to everything fame offers: money, power, women, drugs—every sin imaginable just a nod away. And yet… Eddie survived. Oh, he went to the parties, and he saw temptation up close. But something inside him told him to stay away from the things that could destroy him.
Which raises the question: What did Eddie Murphy have that eluded John Belushi, Chris Farley, Janis Joplin, Prince, and so many others? I can’t know for sure, but in Being Eddie, he makes one thing unmistakably clear: he loves himself. In fact, Eddie called self-love his greatest gift. He simply loved himself more than he loved the pitfalls of fame.
Should you and I have more self-love?
YES!
On the surface, “self-love” sounds…suspicious. Boastful. Self-indulgent. Maybe even sinful. Christians—especially the uptight ones— might hear self-love as self-worship. But that’s not what it has to be.
Self-love isn’t saying, “I’m the greatest.” It’s saying, “I matter.”
Eddie says that self-love protected him. He joked that if something is bad for you and “you have to acquire a taste for it,” it probably wasn’t meant to be eaten in the first place. That’s wisdom wrapped in a punchline.
Self-love says: I’m worth taking care of.
Self-love says: My life matters.
Self-love says: I’m worth protecting.
God Wants You to Love Yourself
Scripture is clear. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus’ command only works if you believe your life has worth. You were created in the image of God — on purpose, with intention, and without regret. Maybe it’s time you start seeing yourself the way He sees you.
So, what did I learn channel-flipping one night? Our favorite Beverly Hills Cop didn’t implode because he valued the gift he was given. He protected it. And because he did, that gift kept showing up for his family, for his audience, for the world.
Take care of yourself. Protect your gift. Love yourself. Only then can you give your best to everyone else.
