Galatians 5:14 14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love is at the heart of the law. It is the one word that summarized God’s intent for humanity. Paul refers in this verse to the whole law. Everything in God’s laws point to love. Jesus summarized the whole law in two commands focused on love: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31). Every law somehow reflects these two commands. Paul focuses in on the second command of loving one’s neighbor.
A key phrase in this quotation from Leviticus 19:18 is as yourself. Most people have an innate love for themselves. There may be rare occasions when people develop a self-hate, but deep down, they still have some degree of self-preservation. One might argue that even suicide is some form of self-love, even though severely distorted. The power of inner sin turns healthy self-love into pride, especially in rebellion against God and God’s commands. Everyone eats and sleeps, which shows even the most mundane level of self-love.
Since we take care of ourselves and seek to live, prosper, and enjoy life in whatever capacity we can, that indicates that God has given us grace. Life itself is a form of grace. This pursuit of life and happiness should be channeled not just to satisfy our own pride and fleshly desires but to be used to help others around us. God’s love inside of us will lead us to do things for others. God has given us many laws in the Bible that will help us know how to love and care for others that will benefit them. Following God’s plan as revealed in the Bible and its various commands will bring joy and peace and healthy relationships. It will satisfy the deep longings in the human heart that are often distorted because of sin.
To love one’s neighbor as oneself will require that the self be placed upon the altar as a living sacrifice to God. It will require seeking God’s kingdom and purposes in this world and not our own agendas. We experience freedom to love when we allow God’s grace through Christ to guide and direct us, and not self-righteous legalism or wonton disregard for God’s laws.
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