by Carrle Hopkins

Created on: August 22, 2009   Last Updated: September 01, 2009

In today's world with the influence of print, television, and computerized media, the commandment to "Love your neighbor as yourself," has become more complicated. Self-loathing seems to have become the norm. Articles like "Hate the way your thighs look read here" or "Working moms get rid of your self-hate by ." Then look at the ads in any magazine that show how to fix all the flaws from imperfect hair to wrinkled eyes. People do not love themselves any more, and so it is no wonder they are having difficulty loving their neighbors.

So, obviously to better understand this commandment of love, a person has to learn to love himself/herself first. The parental references in the Bible are a wonderful place to begin. We are God's children, and he loves us unconditionally just as any parent should love a child. All of us have imperfections. God is well aware of what they are, and he still loves us. Our wrinkled eyes do not have to be corrected. They have been earned by a lifetime of experiences. The belly bulge by the mom who has given birth to three children is a badge of honor for following God's intentions for mankind to be fruitful and multiply. The crooked nose is a trait passed on by God who wants his children to be unique and glorious in his own image, not an image dreamed up in some marketing scheme to sell products. Until people can accept themselves as they are, it will be hard to love our neighbors as they are.

Another phrase in this commandment is "as yourself" because it really is about treating others as you want to be treated. When someone is screaming at a referee at children's little league game, they really need to focus on how they would want someone to treat them if they were the referee instead. Parents and society often do a great job of teaching to children the "Golden Rule- Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you." But it would be much better to live that rule and to model it each day. For example people do not want their kids to lie, yet they tell their children to tell the salesman on the phone that they are not home. The education system has worked hard to teach cultural and ethnic acceptance, and yet so many pull their children out of public schools to be taught in a setting, which offers little exposure to those who are different. How can one love his neighbor if he never bothers to learn about him? This doesn't mean compromising one's own beliefs, but rather to open up to others. An invitation to visit one's home or even church will never be accepted or offered until the person feels the other person cares about him.

Following Jesus's commandment to "Love your neighbor as yourself" may be complicated with today's influx of outside influences, but never has it been more important. First for someone to love a person he/she must love himself/herself unconditionally, just as God does. Then, the person must adhere to the Golden Rule as these two commandments are not meant to be separated. God's instructions for his children are simple, and by simply living them each day, our world will find peace and love.

Learn more about this author, Carrle Hopkins.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.