Question continues… “One implies not to love yourself the other implies to love yourself?”
Matthew 22:37–40
“Jesus 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 commandment. A second is equally important: ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are BASED ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS.”
- This passage doesn’t imply what the question suggests. It speaks of Love toward God and other people, in comparison to yourself.
2 Timothy 3:1–5
“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. THEY WILL ACT RELIGIOUS, BUT THEY WILL REJECT THE POWER THAT COULD MAKE THEM GODLY. Stay away from people like that!”
- This passage also does not imply what the question suggests. It gives warning about how people will be like in the last days; ungodly.
Proverbs 19:8
“To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.”
- Nowhere in the Bible does God tell people otherwise. Godly self-love is self-acceptance, self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and so on. Those qualities are then projected outward, onto others. They show compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and love toward others.
- Narcissistic “self-love” as defined in 2 Timothy 3 is not real love, for narcissists deep down loathe themselves, don’t accept themselves, can’t forgive themselves, show no mercy, etc. They also project what’s within them onto others; show no love, no compassion, no mercy, no forgiveness, no acceptance (always need to control others), etc. Narcissistic “self-love” = selfishness: no regard for others, and no regard for themselves, except their ego, which is “false self.”
If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others
➡️ You cannot give what you don’t have. You cannot “love your neighbor as yourself” if you don’t love yourself.