Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself

When Jesus was once among the Pharisees, one of them who was a lawyer wanted to test Jesus' knowledge in an attempt to trick him, or find fault with him. He asked mockingly, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Or in other words, "Which of all of the commandments is the most important?" The answer that Christ gives is simple and yet so profound.

First he says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." He goes on to say, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

What he meant by that is that our obedience to all the other commandments all comes down to whether or not we love God, and love others. If we love God, we will not take his name in vain or put any other gods before him. A love for God will lead us to keep the Sabbath Day holy. And if we love others, we will not steal, cheat, lie, kill or anything like it. What amazing wisdom the Savior had, to sum up all the commandments into two simple sentences.

There is a piece of this puzzle that is often overlooked, however. Reading His answer, we know that we have to love God and our neighbors. But there is more to it. "Love thy neighbor as thyself." It does not do us any good to love somebody as ourself, if we don't first love and respect our ownself.

If you do not love yourself, take a step back and try to understand who you really are. You are a child of God! You are unique and individual; you are special to Him. You have been blessed with unique gifts and talents. The most powerful being in the universe is your father and wants the best things for you. What is not to love?

If we do love ourselves and have self-confidence, and then have that same love for others, life itself will gain more meaning. We will naturally gravitate to that which is good and holy. The world will become a better place. After all, as Jesus well knows, love makes the world go round.