This Sunday's Gospel reading is from Mark 12:28-34 in which Jesus defines the two greatest commandments.
Typically we look at this from the point of view of loving the neighbor, and with the "immigrant caravan" being the issue of the day, I do not doubt that many preachers will try to draw conclusions from Jesus' teaching in order to paint the immigration policies of the President of the United States as wrong, evil, or un-Christian.
Instead, I read this Gospel lesson today and remembered the problems I had with loving myself when I was in my teens. I remember being told somewhere how important it was to first love oneself and how that seemed egotistical, narcissistic, and contrary to Jesus' teachings. "Love God first", I thought was more important, but it was not until I came to grips with the fact that God loved me so much that He would suffer and die for me that I could begin to love God with all of my heart, soul, and mind. In order to love, I first had to know that I was loved.
At the time I do not think that I loved myself very much, and that was reflected in how I loved others. I could be an obnoxious know it all, a person who was quick to tease or to make fun of someone, and not very conscious of God's presence or his concern for them. That all changed once I realized and accepted God's love for me. My life began to change. I treated people better, and while I still didn't love myself very much, I began to love my neighbors more.
I think that loving one's neighbor as one's self really boils down to sacrifice. That might mean giving up your evil ways, treating everyone well, or it might mean following a career serving others, or being ready to give the ultimate sacrifice for people you love, something our police, firefighters, and military do every day, and something Jesus did for us in spite of our unloving nature.
To be loved is something we all desire.
To know that God loves you makes those two greatest commandments that Jesus defined fall right into place.
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.I have previously commented on how hard it is to love God with all of my heart, soul, and mind due to the distractions of the world. Today, I would like to look at the question of how to love one's neighbor as oneself, but from a different angle than the obvious.
Typically we look at this from the point of view of loving the neighbor, and with the "immigrant caravan" being the issue of the day, I do not doubt that many preachers will try to draw conclusions from Jesus' teaching in order to paint the immigration policies of the President of the United States as wrong, evil, or un-Christian.
Instead, I read this Gospel lesson today and remembered the problems I had with loving myself when I was in my teens. I remember being told somewhere how important it was to first love oneself and how that seemed egotistical, narcissistic, and contrary to Jesus' teachings. "Love God first", I thought was more important, but it was not until I came to grips with the fact that God loved me so much that He would suffer and die for me that I could begin to love God with all of my heart, soul, and mind. In order to love, I first had to know that I was loved.
At the time I do not think that I loved myself very much, and that was reflected in how I loved others. I could be an obnoxious know it all, a person who was quick to tease or to make fun of someone, and not very conscious of God's presence or his concern for them. That all changed once I realized and accepted God's love for me. My life began to change. I treated people better, and while I still didn't love myself very much, I began to love my neighbors more.
I think that loving one's neighbor as one's self really boils down to sacrifice. That might mean giving up your evil ways, treating everyone well, or it might mean following a career serving others, or being ready to give the ultimate sacrifice for people you love, something our police, firefighters, and military do every day, and something Jesus did for us in spite of our unloving nature.
To be loved is something we all desire.
To know that God loves you makes those two greatest commandments that Jesus defined fall right into place.
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So close! The essay confirms how God loves us, but not on how we are to love ourselves and how that translates into love for others. It is a situation ethics kind of dilemma. For example, an unemployed alcoholic friend asks you for money to repair his car. If I love my friend as myself, what do I do?
ReplyDeleteWe are to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we don't love ourselves, how are we going to love others? That doesn't mean being overly impressed with ourselves. It does mean that as we ask for God's forgiveness for our faults, and for fair and decent treatment from other people, we must extend to those others the fair and decent treatment we hope for, and also to recognize them as sinners in need of forgiveness LIKE OURSELVES.
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