In Leviticus, Matthew and Mark and elsewhere in the Bible, we are told to "Love they neighbor as thyself."

That begins with self. Love thyself and then extend that to your neighbors, friends and others. And then you will be ready to Love Your Enemy.

But it begins with thyself. With all your faults, imperfections, ego, etc. As you are, not as you wish you were if only you didn't have that pesky ego. You could journey all your life trying to surpass, transcend ego but what are you doing? Focusing on self. Just love YOU and the rest will follow. To love yourself, you have to forgive yourself for everything. In forgiveness, lies the release of ego, the release of all negativity. In that moment, you become one with your God and love becomes transcendent.

The Course of Miracles teaches us that there are only two emotions, one is love and the other fear. Of these two, only love is real.

There is no transcendence, there is only you as you are, deserving of love--from yourself, from me, from God, from every being. Once you accept that, you've done what you came to do. We all came to do that but we all approach it from different directions, in different ways. We are all learning the same lesson.