The Greatest Commandment

Today, at the church of my youth, a new pastor was installed (as if he were an appliance-perhaps a washing machine) and as I sat at home working on an essay of a vaguely related subject, I decided to begin writing my studies of the Bible.
**Disclaimer: The views and opinions contained within do not necessarily express the views and opinions of ELCA-MS**

I told you that I would share some study...sorry if its so long...

The Greatest Commandment: Matthew 22:34-40

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “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.”

I have often wondered over the content of these verses, wanting greatly to fulfill the first and greatest commandment. I would often go over it in my mind wondering how I could love the Lord my God so completely. It came to me to pray, as frequently as possible, five to seven times a day even. I read the Bible diligently; studying it to show myself approved unto him. I dwelled upon his commandments, the Law (this is where I came to read of the various laws in Leviticus). I shaved my head so as not to shame it when I prayed. I fasted. I prayed. I still feared His judgment. Do not misunderstand, these things are all good, and done with good intention, but still I felt as if I were missing something important.
The importance that I missed lays in the second half of Christ’s response so the Pharisee. It begins with and all hangs upon this: “And the second is like it…”
Like: having almost or exactly the same qualities,
characteristics, etc.; similar; equal;
So having learned to consult my trustworthy dictionary while studying scripture has brought me into a new understanding: Loving your neighbor as yourself is the same as loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind; it is how we best accomplish it.
But, my mind soon turned to the question of “how” do we love our neighbor as ourselves. Certainly the Various Laws of Leviticus 19 are ways we can love our neighbors as ourselves, and they should be strived to follow. However this verse implies a love of self, to which I must ask: “What of the man who does not love himself?”
There are those who speak ill of themselves. Are they permitted to speak ill of others? There are those who put their lives in danger. Are they permitted to put the lives of others in danger? There are those who hate themselves; who are masochistic. Are they exempt from this?
The conclusion I came to, other than most of these are practiced on a selfish basis, is that the true form of basic love that we practice towards ourselves is that we feed ourselves; we bathe ourselves; we clothe ourselves; we shelter ourselves. So in this I conclude that to love our neighbors, we are to feed them; to bathe them; to clothe them; to give them shelter. If you come across a man who is hungry, give him food so that he is not hungry, and feed him with the gospel, with Christ-the bread come down from heaven. If you encounter someone who is dirty, bathe him or her, just as Christ washed the feet of his disciples, so too should we serve each other. If a man needs shelter, find a place for him to stay, just as the Good Samaritan did, for whatever you do for the least, you do unto Him.
Also, as you identify your wrongs for learning when your actions bring calamity upon you, identify your neighbor’s wrongs, so that in this way you may save his soul. This too is love.