Loving Yourself

“The first ministry of every person in the Church is to work on himself or herself. We must sanctify ourselves…Being our own best friend is a recognition that what God has created is good, and the invitation to commune with our Creator God has set us apart from the rest of creation. Being our own best friend is a way to kindle a grateful heart within ourselves and to open ourselves to the love God has for us. This gives us the ability to love God and to love others.” (Metropolitan Joseph, Abbot Tryphon)

"Loving yourself is not about narcissism, an excessive focus on oneself that can be a sign of serious mental illness. Rather, a healthy love of yourself is the love you have for what God has created. We recognize we have been created in His image and likeness, and we are worthy of love, because God Himself loves us.” (Abbot Tryphon)

“Love is a movement out of narcissism. The true opposite for of love is not hate but egocentrism, for hate can be rechanneled back into love, but egocentrism prevents us from ever moving out of ourselves to each other. Love is extinguished more quickly by apathy and indifference than it is by either jealously or wrath.’ (Professor Louis Markos)

“...openness to others is the beginning of growth, and death to self is the condition of that openness. For in opening ourselves to the Christ in others we discover who we are in the deepest sense of the word, far more deeply than by the superficial path of self-affirmation that comes from the insecurity of an undetermined self-image.” (Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ)

"You cannot truly love if you think only of yourself.” (Life Application Study Bible, Matthew 24:12)

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