Jesus Tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan
"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And
he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him,
and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his
own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." Luke 10:25-36 KJV
The Parable Explained
The Bible verses mention to love your neighour as you love yourself. What is the self love spoken of? What does it mean to love your neighbour as you love yourself?
This is my take on what it means to love yourself: When you love yourself, you have dignity, you have respect for self, you have self esteem. Self esteem is very different from selfish love or ego. Ego is boastful and mindful of your own needs only, whereas self esteem is a confident state of satisfaction with oneself, having an honest measure of knowing one's strengths and weaknesses and thereby displaying humility. One must be understanding of people who seem to be wrapped up in ego, as this may arise from a damaged sense of self and may come from an unconscious lack of self esteem. Self esteem is a confident state of being, whereas ego may be thought of as a longing of more for self in a driving need to fill the yawning emptiness inside.