www.bible.com/72/gal.5.14.hcsb
The whole law, all 613 elements of it, can be fulfilled by obeying this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So, yeah, I guess that’s it for today.
P. S. – a note about “as yourself”.
So this verse unwittingly has become the foundation of the self-love movement, as The Scripture says here to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Inherent in this understanding is the concept of self-love. But let me tell you the difference between what is call self-love and what is here in this verse.
Self-love is about satisfying the self, exalting the self, and giving place to self when other’s have needs too. I may be exaggerating a bit, but this is where the self-love movement eventually ends up.
By contrast, this verse is talking about selfishness. It’s the same as self-live because it is self-interest, which everyone has. It is a natural inclination to preserve ourselves, take care of ourselves and protect ourselves. We really don’t need any Scripture telling us to do this. Besides, Scripture is not saying we need to live ourselves here. We already do that very well. What is is saying is that we need to love others with that same level of self-interest. We don’t do that naturally and Scripture offers a boost here, a moral compulsion if you will. Our natural self-love needs to be turned outward, and as such, when we do this, we fulfill the law.
It isn’t natural. It’s supernatural. God bless!
Meritt Musings 