This is one of several occasional essays on “Scripture Twisting.” The purpose of these very brief essays is to challenge certain popular interpretations of the Bible that really have little or no basis.
Matthew 22:39 reads simply, A second [command] is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In popular circles this verse is often paraded as a text in which teaches that we are commanded to love ourselves. Thus, the implied
meaning is, “You shall love your neighbor just as you are to love yourself.” Such a view seems to have come from secular psychologists (in which self-actualization is at the top of the pecking order of one’s goals). From there, it apparently made its way into Christian psychological treatises.
Our objective in this short essay is not to trace the history of this interpretation, but to argue that it is fallacious. Unpacking the meaning of the verse yields the following expanded translation: “You shall love your neighbor as you already do love yourself.” Thus, self-love is assumed in this text, not commanded.