Loving Yourself

You have heard that it has been said, ‘you have to love yourself before you can love others’. And that, 'you must 'learn' to love yourself'. This is like saying, you have to learn to breathe for yourself.
Love is the breath of life for the spirit, and loving is like breathing for the spirit. Anywhere on the planet, you breathe the same air to keep your body alive. But your body is not you. You are your spirit, and to live you must love like the body breathes naturally to live.
Everybody loves themselves naturally like breathing air. What is not natural is to breathe for someone else, and in virtue of this it is assumed unnatural to love someone else. If we all love others as much as we love ourselves, the world would be absolutely peaceful.
When you breathe, you take air that the trees give. When you have cut down, or destroyed them with harmful chemicals for your bodily needs, what will your body breathe to live?
When you love yourself, what do you love about yourself?
Is it your body you love or, is it your status (ego), or your Spirit (character)?
Almost all love their body as much as they love their status. Some don't love the body they are born with, and some among them change their body to whatever shape or form they want. However, it seems, most are not satisfied with their status, and work hard to upgrade their status. This drives the world economy, that is destroying the natural world. It is not our greed for physical comfort that drives the world economy and give power to the dollar, but our desperate need for status (ego trip) that gives power to our spirits in a physical world where love is scarce.
To love yourself, that is your Spirit (character), you must have deep affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, intimacy, endearment, devotion, compassion, care, friendliness, kindness–for yourself. And unselfishness is the quintessence of love–only realized by a ‘surrendered’ ego. So, if you have love for yourself, you must have love for everyone else, and the natural world. If you don't have love for others, then you really have no love for yourself.
If you are compassionate, tender and deeply affectionate, you are lovable by no other than another who is also deeply affectionate. But in a world where many are loving themselves like breathing for themselves, you may be fooled by them who can ‘act’ very affectionately. For they who are greedy for love knows what affection is; for they have great affection for themselves, and will give you Academy Award winning performances to deceive you. To them, loving themselves means making others need them so that they will be served (obeyed). Not for their affection, but for their ‘power’ to give affection for a price. Since most are naturally loving themselves, the world is naturally a desperately needy place for power in the guise of love. So Jesus said, "the world will love it's own, but I Am not of this world." And sacrificed His power for His Spirit, and they who crucified Him, sacrificed their spirit for their power, that is here today and gone tomorrow.
To a people who refused to love, Moses gave laws to be obeyed, but the love of God manifested and declared; ‘love thy neighbor as thyself”.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave of His immortal Conscience, that whoever abides by it, should never be in darkness; but embody the love and spirit (character) of God”. John 3:16
“Come Follow Me.” JC.

Life is Consciousness. To be Conscious means, 'to know with'. To know with what? The Conscious–Conscience equivalence, the Higher Consciousness–God's Love. Love is Conscientiousness, and he who has no conscience has no love; and he who is absolutely Conscientious has the love of God, and Conscious like God, and has life like God.
The Oneness of Consciousness. A union possible by one Characteristic phenomenon, the Conscience–Love. “I and My Father are One.” JC. @ CONSCIOUSNESS