Love your neighbor as YOUrself

This verse is right up there with John 3:16. The second greatest commandment. But sometimes or most times if we're honest it's the hardest. I wanna talk about two possible reasons why, and the second reason isn't nearly as obvious.
Mark 12:31
The second greatest commandment is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.

First I want to define your neighbor.

Your Neighbor

Anyone who isn't you. Including everyone from your grandmother to your bus driver to the man standing next to you on the street.  

When Jesus said "your neighbor" he didn't just mean someone living near you he meant absolutely everybody. That girl whispering about you in the hallway. The boy who won't talk to you anymore and you don't know why. That teacher that made fun of you in front of the entire class. That annoying relative that you can't stand. The sibling that makes you want to scream. The person that called you out in front of everybody.  

It's hard to wrap your head around. How are you supposed to love these people? The ones that hate you? But if you only love the people who love you back, what kind of a love is that? (Matthew 5:46)

Here is my advice:

1) Pick someone you're having trouble loving.

2)Pray that God will bless them, at first it will feel weird and you won't really even mean it maybe, but eventually you'll begin to truly care.

3) Make an effort to be kinder, smile, try and keep you're mouth shut when you want to say something bad about them.

4) Try to keep your thoughts positive towards them.
5) If you mess up, don't give up, try again.

6)Continue to ask God for guidance.

I want to talk about the second part of the verse now. Those last two words stick with me. "As yourself". Not everyone loves themselves the way that they should. Loving yourself can be harder than loving others and it can also make it harder to know what loving someone else the same way you love yourself.  You can see all of your faults, all of your shortcomings, all of your vices, and scars. You look in the mirror and think of all the things that are wrong with you. You feel like you are constantly striving to be someone else, to be better. 

Here's what I wanna say to you: 

You are loved. YOU are loved. You, the girl who cries herself to sleep. You,the boy pretending to be someone he isn't to fit in. All of you are loved.  God loves you more than you could ever understand. I know it sounds like a cliche or something you say to make someone feel better, but He does. You are His son or daughter, not just His neighbor. You're not just somebody God knows about, you're His family. He loves you unconditionally. The same way God wants us to love others. 

AND by loving others unconditionally we treat them how to love others and themselves. It starts a cycle of love instead of a cycle of hate. That is why loving other is the one of the greatest commandments. It teaches us to love others and ourselves. We teach others to love and they teach others.