Romans 13:9
The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
before I get into teh application of this let me kick a cross refrence or 3 that ties in my head.
first we need to look at Matt 22:34-40
[The Great Commandment]
[34] But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. [35] And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. [36] “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” [37] And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [40] On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:34-40 ESV)
here Jesus is Showing that all 10 of the commandments could be summed up in two. Same story paralleled in Luke show that Jesus questioned the lawyer and the lawyer answered in this way, but the key fact remains that we see the law narrowed to two main comanments.
[The Parable of the Good Samaritan]
[25] And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” [26] He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” [27] And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” [28] And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
(Luke 10:25-28 ESV)
Next we need to look at James 2:8-13
[8] If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. [9] But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. [11] For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. [12] So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. [13] For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
(James 2:8-13 ESV)
now here James is throwing out a little rebuke to the 12 tribes of Israel in the dispersion(james1:1), but on top of that I see James is showing us the same thing in a different way.
All three of these show that we need to love our neighbor. We love our neigbor in the same way we would love our selves, and when we die to our selves to do it it is that much better.