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Love Others as You Love Yourself

I was just asked about that.  You know that we are supposed to put others before us; it’s called preferring the brethren.  But why does it say that we are to love them as we love ourselves?

“The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, ‘Love others as much as you love yourself,’” (Matthew 22:39 Contemporary English Version).

I was just asked about that.  You know that we are supposed to put others before us; it’s called preferring the brethren.  But why does it say that we are to love them as we love ourselves?

“Do for others what you want them to do for you. This is the teaching of the laws of Moses in a nutshell,” (Matthew 7:12 Living Bible).

God created Man.  If you have been reading my stuff you probably know that I believe that God created the blueprint for mankind, you were born of your mother and on and on for millennia, but God drew out the blueprint; so, in essence, God created man.  Now, God loves his creation, mankind, He loves you; does He not?  Personally, I figure that if God loves me, which He does, then why shouldn’t I love me (myself)?

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I remember many years ago in college, 2 years after I had come to believe in Christ.  A girl walked up to me and said, “I’m a Christian and I love you and all these people.  But I hate myself.”  That was evident with all that razor scars on her wrists.  I didn’t know much about the Bible or Christ-like living yet.  But I knew that one verse (Matthew 22:39).  So, I proceeded to show her how she could love herself.   And at the end of the semester we sat down on a bench near the bookstore.  She turned to me and thanked me, “Now I know that I can love myself and its ok because God loves me.”  So, now she was able to love others as much she loved herself.

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In truth, it is hard for a man or woman or child to love themselves until they realize that God loves them.  And when they can’t love themselves they have trouble really and honestly loving others.  I asked some people in my church, one day, to say, “God loves me.”  They replied to me, “God loves you.”  But, that’s not what I said.  I told them again that they should make it personal, I said, “Repeat after me.  God loves me.”  Again I got, “God loves you.”

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So, personalize it, use your names and repeat, “God loves_(place your name here)_.”  Is your name Steve?  Say, “God loves Steve.”  Is your name Mary?  Say, “God loves Mary.”  Go look at yourself in the mirror, who do you see?  That’s the one whom God loves.  He doesn’t say to Himself, “Well, I love Steven, he’s doing what I want him to do.  Sam says he loves Me but he’s not doing anything about what he said.  No, I don’t think so.  No, I don’t love him, he hasn’t earned it.”  No, God is not like that, he loves everyone.

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Once you realize that, “God loves me.  He loves me, He really loves me,” then you can successfully go out and love others as you love yourself.  And you can show them Christ in you by being Jesus to them and loving them the same way that you, and God, love you.

“Then Peter said, ‘Now I understand that God doesn’t play favorites,’” (Acts 10:34 GOD’S WORD Translation).

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