Biblical Answer

Understanding the Commandment to Love Our Neighbor

The commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves can be challenging to understand in a chaotic world filled with noise and distractions. At first, it may seem counterintuitive to love someone as we love ourselves, especially if we struggle to love ourselves. Augustine suggests that we cannot both love ourselves first and foremost and love God first and foremost. We can be ordered toward love of God, in which case we love ourselves properly too. This means that loving our neighbor as ourselves is not about manufacturing affectionate feelings, but about acting as if we did. When we act with love and kindness towards our neighbor, we find that one of the great secrets is that we are connected to their needs and our attention is not on us but on them.

The Importance of Loving God

The biblical revelation reminds us that human beings are not self-explanatory; they derive their meaning from outside themselves, from God in whose image they are made. We are not autonomous individuals, creating ourselves constantly. This means that loving our neighbor as ourselves is not just about feeling fond of them or finding them attractive, but about understanding that they are created in the image of God. When we love God, we learn to love ourselves properly, and when we love ourselves properly, we can love our neighbor as ourselves. This love for our neighbor flows out of our love for God Himself.

Practical Application

So, how do we practically apply this commandment in our chaotic world? We start by acting as if we love our neighbor, even if we don't feel like it. We show kindness, compassion, and empathy towards those around us. We put their needs before our own and seek to understand their struggles and challenges. We recognize that our neighbor is created in the image of God and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. By doing so, we demonstrate our love for God and our love for our neighbor, and we find that we are connected to the needs of others and our attention is not on us but on them. This is what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves in a chaotic world filled with noise and distractions.