The second greatest commandment

By Beryl Baterina

Two Fighting Children  By Giulio del Torre (Wikimedia Commons)

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 

As I reflected on that, there are other verses which I can relate to. There is "Give until it hurts" and "Whatever you do to the least of your brothers, you do unto Me."

I can easily say that I love my neighbor yet I am not sure if I was able to live what comes out of my mouth. I know in my mind that it is not right to judge others based on how I see them. But most of the times I am not strong enough to resist the temptation. I know I should give kindness instead of hatred. But it is not very easy to love others especially those who are not lovable. I can rationalize that in order to love others, I must love myself first. If I think about it, it is somehow a selfish act. "Love one another as I have loved you." That was what God said and not "Love yourself as I have loved you." I may not hurt God physically right now, but I do hurt Him spiritually. I hurt Him when I think of myself more and fail to help others in anyway I can. If I can love others more than myself, then it is loving God more than myself.

My prayer for this, "Lord, make my heart filled with more of Your love and less of me. Make me love my brothers and sisters more and fill my heart with kindness. Empty me of my hatred and make me forgive them as I also ask for forgiveness. Amen."

Beryl blogs at Beryl Baterina.