Here’s a realization that came to me about the Biblical instruction to, first of all, love God with our whole heart, then secondly, to love others (my neighbors) as ourselves. It struck me that if I’m part of who God is, then to love God with my whole heart means to love myself. God-love and self-love are inseparable.
Likewise, if others are part of who God is, then to love others means to love God. And to love others means to love myself because I am part of who they are as part of God. So God-love and self-love and other-love are all mixed together inseparably. If I engage in one I’m engaged in all three simultaneously.
December 2014