Loving

DEVOTION
GALATIONS
LOVING
Gal 5:14-15
14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
NIV
I have to wonder if I have been guilty of not loving my neighbor as myself. If I am guilty of not loving my neighbor as myself, would be a better way of saying it, I suppose. I think the first thing I have to come to terms with is if I love myself. How could I possibly love anyone if I did not love my own self first according to this? So do I love my own self? Is there anything that would prevent me from loving me? Or is this a futile exercise in asking these questions? God already knows how much I love myself as well as how much everyone else loves themselves. Who would not love their own self? Would I do anything to cause harm to my own being? Would I jump from a tall building to see if I survive? Of course not! Would I hurt my own feeling? Not a chance! Would I be rude to myself? Would I be angry with my own self? Would I demand others have their way before me? Not likely. Would I be impatient with myself? I don’t think so. Would I envy myself? How could I do that? Would I keep a record of all my wrongs? That would really be bazaar! Yet am I proud of myself? I really don’t think I have anything to be proud of but I just might have pride. I think what the point here is, I love me. In all my imperfections, with all my failures and idiosyncrasies I still love me. I simply would not under any circumstances do any harm to myself in any way for any purpose willing. I would put myself in harm’s way for others, if I was called upon, but I would not do it for me. I love me too much to hurt myself. I do have to wonder if when I fail God, when I do something defined as sin, am I hurting myself and if I love me, then why would I do that? That is a question for another time. I need to deal with the rest of this. If I love me as much as I think I do, then why do I have such a difficult time with loving everyone else as the same as I do me? It is easy to say “I love you” but it is a different thing to actually love, especially when it is defined so well in 1 Corinthians 13. But that is the point, I do love me and I must love others in the same manner. I need to love all others, not just the ones who are easy to love, but the ones who are difficult to love. I have to be able to love those who may not love me as much as they love their own self as well. Jesus is the model of love. He gave himself up for me; he died to save me from the worst end conceivable. My feelings and my actions toward others should be the same. I should do nothing to cause any harm to anyone in any way or for any purpose under any circumstances. I think, in fact, my feelings and actions should not just be ‘not to cause harm’ but to cause benefit to others. That is my goal. I shall try my best with the help of the Spirit to love God, love self and love others.