"Love your neighbors as you love yourself" what is the meaning of this phrase? D

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   maheshpatwalposted 14 years ago

   "Love your neighbors as you love yourself" what is the meaning of this phrase? Do you really...
   
   follow it?

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   arthurchappellposted 14 years ago

   A variation on the golden rule that if you are good to others you give them less cause to want to harm you

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   dallas93444posted 14 years ago

   Most of us show less love, consideration, compassion and courtesy to ourselves than we show anyone else! If we were to love our neighbour as we love ouselves, we would show them no love at all! 
   
   I like to switch the phrase around: "Love yourself as you love your neighbor"
   
   In plain English:
   
   Do only unto others as you would have them do unto you.
   Would you put yourself in harms way? No, then don't do it to another man.
   Do you respect yourself? Yes, then respect other people.

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   BooksGaloreposted 14 years ago

   It means that you treat other people in the same way you would want to be treated in that same situation.  For most people, it requires that they stop and think before they act or say anything. Then you must put yourself in the other person's situation: look at it from his or her point of view, feel what he or she would be feeling, and think what he or she would be thinking; then make your decision about how to handle the situation accordingly. But you also have to keep in mind what is best for the person in the long run.  Sometimes people have to learn to take responsibility for things and not expect to be bailed out of every problem.  I try to live that way since, as a follower of Christ, this is what Jesus requires us to do.  But it must be done prayerfully because we need God's wisdom to live righteously. However, sometimes I forget and act according to my human flesh dictates.  But, I think I do it more often than not.

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   Dave Mathewsposted 14 years ago

   If you stop and think about it for even a second, before you can love another, you must first love yourself. If I hate me and who I am, who I have become, How can I show love to another. First you have to love yourself then you can love another. Love your enemy too.

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   rieomposted 14 years ago

   I take this as treating others as you would like to be treated.

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   germanlrposted 14 years ago

   I believe in my heart, that if I did not have a close relationship with God in my life, and the Holy Spirit in my heart, I would not have the ability to love my neighbors or people in general like myself.
   
   Yet to know God, is to know Love! To accept Christ, is to have love, and to Believe in the Holy Spirit, is to live love...I have the most profound love for people -  including my neighbors...and to me, it means that I accept them as people who are just like me...human beings.   I want to treat them the same way I want to be treated...with kindness, respect...to be helpful and do anything I could to be a good person towards them.  To not judge them, to not want to cause any harm.  To show joy and acceptance for everyone - that's a loving person who has a loving heart.

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   onegoodwomanposted 14 years ago

   Truthfully, I think the very word " love" is overused and abused in our collective societys.
   
   Forgiving my neighbor or the person beside me in the coffee shop is easier than forgiving myself.
   
   It is easier for me to give a stranger 5 bucks than to spend it on nail polish for myself.
   
   Many times, I have served someone the last piece of meat, pretending not to care for it myself......( I really do like veggies).
   
   Yes, I have offered my coat to another, but never my bra or panties.  Should you ever need them, I would not want them back.
   
   So, you tell me, am I good enough?  No, none of us are.
   
   Loving my neighbor........giving him or her the best I have to offer.

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   Tusitala Tomposted 14 years ago

   I like Dave Mathew's answer and have to say I concur with his statement that you "have to love yourself before you can love other people."    I'm not a religious person, as Dave is (I checked out his profile page) but as I recall it does say somewhere in a holy scripture that we should "Love our God with all our heart, all our soul, and with all our mind...." something like that.
   
   We're also told to "fear God." 
   
   The two are NOT compatible.   No one can love someone or something they fear.   But if we are to love our God with all our heart and with all our mind we need to have some sort of concept - however nebulous - of what we a loving.   So if we can accept that WHAT IS DOING the loving is God, then we've got God inside of us.   Love that part of ourselves and maybe we can begin loving our neigbhbour more than we do now.

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