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In Part 7 of our series on the Baptismal Covenant, Bishop DeDe explores what it truly means to live out the promise: “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”

This episode invites listeners to examine both sides of that question—how we seek Christ in others and how we honor the Christ within ourselves. Bishop DeDe reflects on the importance of recognizing every person as a living expression of God, while also naming the spiritual and emotional cost of only serving others without acknowledging our own needs.

We often imagine Christian service as self-forgetfulness, but this conversation challenges that assumption. Genuine love of neighbor requires a grounded, honest love of self—not self-erasure. When we deny our own needs, emotions, or humanity, our service becomes distorted, even toxic, and it becomes harder to truly see Christ in others.

Takeaways

• Seeing Christ in all persons means seeing people as whole beings. Each person—your neighbor and you—is a living expression of God. Honoring that truth requires space for real expression, emotion, and individuality.
• You cannot serve others by disappearing yourself. When we only help and never allow ourselves to need help, we stop functioning as full persons. The Baptismal Covenant calls us to love others as ourselves—not instead of ourselves.
• Taking up space is part of sacred identity. Being made in the image of God includes your own capacity to feel, express, and take up space in the world. Neglecting these parts of yourself harms both you and your relationships.
• Neglecting your own needs creates unhealthy patterns. Self-denial framed as virtue can become toxic, leading to resentment, burnout, or an inability to recognize Christ’s presence in others.
• Seeking and serving Christ requires mutuality. Love flows in both directions—giving and receiving, supporting and being supported.

AI Disclosure: To support our staff in their limited time, many of our episode summaries are first generated by AI and then edited by the Communications Director to accurately reflect and preview our podcast episodes.