I know I already did an article on this a while back, but it's something of great importance. We all have heard the second greatest command, if you look in mark 12:31 it says, "The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Now, of course we have to follow all of the other commandments as well. A lot of people seem to get confused with this. It's not that this rule is the only one that we should follow just because it's greater. What makes it so great is that about 99% of the other commandments go along with this one. I mean, think about it. If we love each other as we love ourselves, will we gossip, or murder, steal, or do other things that we're not supposed to? Of course not! That is what makes this command so great. Not that we have to follow the others less, but that if we follow this one, we'll follow the others more.
Another thing is, we also have to love ourselves. How can we love others as much as we love ourselves if we hate, or dislike ourselves? Now, we should put others above ourselves in a place of respect, but that doesn't mean that we have to be constantly down on ourselves. And if we are to love others as much as ourselves, then how much more can we love others if we love ourselves? Now, we shouldn't me self absorbed and think and speak only of ourselves, but we should still love ourselves.
A lot of times, so many rules can seem a bit overwhelming. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with them all. But the best thing to do is to always remember to love your neighbors as yourself, and keeping the rules will become easier and easier. I know it's not always easy, but it's the right thing to do. And if we do the right thing it'll always turn out well in the end. Maybe not in this world, but heaven will be worth it all. So remember, no matter who gives you a hard time, and no matter how much you want to retaliate, you have to remember to keep this rule. And you'll actually feel better about it. Because if you don't do anything wrong but you're hurt for it anyway, then at least you have no guilt. :)
