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Family and Friends is my everyday journal. Captain's Log is where I pontificate on religion and politics.

Monday, March 27, 2023

Monday Musings: Love Your Neighbor

Mark 12: 28-33 NIV

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Called the greatest commandment. To Love God, and your neighbor as yourself.

Understanding the first part it is much harder said than done. It's loving your neighbor where I've run across a serious problem with what many preachers are saying. I've heard many sermons on loving your neighbor and they all interpret it that "In order to love your neighbor you first have to love yourself."

They reason that you can't love others if you don't love yourself, self-loathing is hinderance to loving others. Is it? Or is self-loathing a result of not loving others?

Jesus doesn't command "love yourself." The order these preachers are teaching is backwards.

Jesus says first you have to love God.

Point one: Loving yourself is called narcissism. We use other terms for this kind of person: Self-centered, sociopath, idiot, tyrant, despot, dictator, toddler. 

This person places himself first and has no feeling or shame concerning those around them. Others are only for him or her to use. There's no room to love others. Self-esteem is out of whack when you are the center of the universe, there's no room even for loving God. 

Point 2: If you put love in order as Christ says, and it's in the Old Testament too, Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy. Loving God will want you to love others, and if you love others in this order, you feel yourself worthy of love. Love flows down. First God, then your neighbor then yourself comes naturally because you are in harmony with all around you.

Point 3. When I was in college, Dr. J. Iviloy Bishop in my New Testament History class brought that to our attention. He asked, "How do you serve God?"

Think about this question, you love Jesus, he's your savior, you want to tell others what you now believe, you want to help others in time of need so how do you serve Jesus and show your love for Him? Its not by loving yourself, it's By serving others! The psychological term for this and it's the highest point on Maslow's hierarchy of needs is Altruism. 

Sometimes it takes a tornado or the war in Ukraine for us to want to help those in need. We give for the needy in winter our food, clothing, blankets not expecting anything back in return, but because we are sharing what we have out of the goodness of our hearts. It makes us feel good.

Point 4. When you love someone, parent, friend, spouse, children the number one thought is to make them happy.

There's duty, responsibility, knowing that they love you too, but what drives you is their happiness. You want to give them something that makes them happy. Love gives.

Think Christmas, your child opens their gift, and like Ralphy in A Christmas Story, there's that BB gun. The look of pure joy on his face is the reward of giving that present. Making him happy makes you happy. It's hard for children to understand this, but the joy of Christmas in not in what you get, but what you give and how your gift is received.

Yes, parents all feel let down sometimes when your kid tosses that must have gift you clawed your way through a throng of desperate shoppers to get it, then they play with the box, but if they're happy with the box, your happy.

Love is giving, just as God gave his Son, but not everyone receives the gift. God doesn't force us to love him back, that's called free will. When you do accept the gift of Jesus and you know what True Love is, you want to share it, sharing it gives the giver a sense of purpose, and they love themselves for what they've done.

How can Billionaires who constantly strive for the next billion dollars no matter that they lay off thousands of workers and destroy their lives know happiness? They aren't happy with the five mansions, three yachts, Swiss banks accounts that hold more money than they could give away in three lifetimes. How can they know happiness? They're living the contest of, he who dies with the most toys wins.

“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself. Luke 9:25.



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