Self-Love

Everyone claims to love the Lord more than they love anybody or anything else. But in reality, a human being loves himself more than he loves anybody else.

We help others and exhibit generosity for our own satisfaction and pleasure. Self-love is very discreet and you never happen to notice how much you love yourself.

In loving your own self, you exhibit love to others thinking this love will bounce back and that you will gain respect and love.

A common man will never think that he loves himself. But you love your children because they are your children and you love your wife because she is your wife. You do not feel the same love for another person’s children or wife.

Have you ever thought about how much you love yourself? Most people don’t think about it.

Everybody loves himself but you cannot love anybody else until you stop loving yourself.

Either you love yourself, or you love your wife, children, business or the Lord. You cannot love two different things at the same time, including yourself. If you say, ‘I love so-and-so,’ it means you love yourself and that person.

When you love others, you love them for your own sake. You actually love yourself and you express love to your children, wife, parents and fellowmen.

Now the question is: are you able to see whether or not you love the Lord more than you love yourself? Do you have a criterion upon which you can judge whose love weighs more in the scale of your heart?

In order to weaken self-love in you, you have to learn the art of forgiving.

If you have learned to forgive your enemy, it will benefit you greatly. By doing so, your ego will weaken thus lessening your self-love. However, if you retaliate and take revenge, you are causing great harm to yourself because it will strengthen your ego.

Ask yourself: is it easy for you to forgive others, especially those who have really damaged your good name, who are slandering and back-biting against you? It will always hurt; but relatively, it will become easy to say, ‘No, I am not going to retaliate. I will forgive.’

True forgiveness is not verbally saying, ‘I forgive you.’ Rather, it means there are no negative emotions or malice in your heart for that person. Your heart is clean.

But this ability to forgive comes with the abundance of Divine Energy in your heart and souls.