One of the most challenging instructions in the Bible, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,"Lev. 19:18; was emphasized when repeated by the Master, Christ Jesus (see Matt. 22:39) . Adherence to this command is found to be the basis of peace and improved family and other relationships. It is often easy to see the value of loving our neighbor, but we are sometimes prone to forget that the Bible means that we shall also love ourselves.
Humanly interpreted, self-love is allied to selfishness, self-interest, and self-centered motives and pursuits. However, in Christian Science the true meaning of love places the love of self on an entirely different basis. God is Love, unerring Principle, infinite good. God is All; therefore that which is unlike Love has only a false claim to existence. Divine Love is the creator of man, and Christ Jesus recognized man's spiritual selfhood as the only true being. This understanding was the basis of his healing work. Beholding the real man in his perfection as the child of God, he rejected all evil claims as being no part of man; and through this exalted understanding of Truth, he brought freedom to the ailing ones who sought him. To see our neighbor as God created him is true love. It is also true love to see ourselves in the same way.
Because Jesus knew that he was the expression of Love's completeness, he could say with supreme understanding, "I and my Father are one."John 10:30; His enemies, not understanding the true nature of God and man, were incensed at his words; but the Master never lost sight of himself as Love's expression. So it is with us, his followers. In proportion as we see man as the clear reflection of Mind, as the expression of divine Love, God, the All-power, are we able to do the works which Christ Jesus did.
