My Top 3 Life Principles

Once, a scholar asked, “Mentor, which is the greatest principle of life?” The Master replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest principle. And the second is like it: 'Love others as yourself.' All life-giving principles are based on these two.” ^{(see Matthew 22:36-40)}

Love God, Love self and others, and Obey God.

This metonymy was derived from the Lifebook, the Book of Principles – the Holy Bible. Who has a better say on life principles than the Author of life Himself?

King Solomon’s take was this: Fear God and keep His commands, for this is the whole duty of man. ^{(see Ecclesiastes 12:13)}

So now, my Top 3 List of Life Principles is complete:

Love God,

Love myself and others, and

Obey God.

Life begins and ends with God.

My life principle #1: Love God with all that I am.

How do I love God? By spending time with Him. I have learned that God loved me first, and I just love Him back. As one spends time with God through the Word – by reading the Bible every single day, the information on how to love Him back gets clearer and deeper.

My life principle #2: Love myself and others.

Loving myself is instinctively easy. But sometimes, I tend to be narcissistic – I could love myself more than I love God. Note to self: Refer back to life principle #1. Love God above self. Love God before self.

When life gets hard and I fail, or I stumble and fall and hurt myself, life principle #2 gets very useful. I could just get up, love myself for I am loved, and move on.

But its twin principle can really be bothersome: Love others as I love myself. How could I express a top-level love for others when that is already reserved for myself? I have learned that God’s love for me is so big, that I could give it away and still have so much for myself. Self-less love.

It gets really challenging when I need to forgive those who ask forgiveness. Loving myself would mean freeing myself from debilitating and crippling bitterness. Loving, forgiving, and forgetting.

My life principle #3: Obey God.

This simple statement can keep me busy my whole life. For instance, when I feel like sleeping all day on a Sunday, or working instead for money, I’ll remember an eternal life goal: Go to church. The Ten Commandments did say to keep the Sabbath, and to keep it holy. I have learned that it doesn’t really benefit the Commander, but me. It’s for me.

Once more, a scholar asked, “Who are ‘the others’ in my life?” The Embodiment of Life Principles replied, “You’re already looking at them! Knowledge is good, but good actions are best. Go and do right.”^{(see Luke 10:29-37)}

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