Love

I have decided that I am selfish. I mean, i didn't just decide now, but it has become very clear to me over the last 24 years of my life that I am all about me. I want people to love me, I want people to notice me, I want people to take care of me, I want what is best for me.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Simplified:
1. Love God
2. Love Others

I'll do part 1 later but part 2 is where I see the struggle happening right now. Don't get me wrong, I don't think you can have number 2 without number 1 and perhaps even vice versa, but I'm going to focus on where I see the trouble spots are in part 2 and then move to the problems I'm having with number 1.

The problem, very simply put, is that I *don't* love others. I love myself and want what is best for me but do I really carry that out to my neighbor? Can you imagine yourself loving other people and wanting for them the same things you want for yourself? I have thought long and hard about this and I have realized that it would be HARD work to live like that. So I don't do it. When I meet someone, I want them to think well of me and like me. What if instead of wanting that for myself (and its not that bad of a thing to want, really) I decided to give that to other people? I think it would change the world.

So here I am, mildly depressed, thinking of how things could be and how I've messed so many great things in my life. The cure? I'm not really sure but I bet it involves 'dying to self'. I know that's so cliche so lets change it to: start caring about others before yourself. That makes it a little more of an active idea. How about we all try that for a few weeks and see how things are after that. What about just one day of that? I bet things are different.