God has summed up the whole of His commandments and law saying, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind...and thy neighbor as thyself." Since this is true, the sum and substance of mans wickedness and depravity lies in his setting some object or objects up in the place of them. All the objects which men set up in rivalry against God and their neighbor can be reduced to only one and that is self! An old preacher rightly said, "Private self-love seems to be the root of depravity." It is the great substitute in fallen mans affections to the love of God and man. The apostle Paul states this clearly when writing to Timothy: "For men shall be lovers of their own selves.....lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;" ( 2 Tim. 3:2-4) Self-love is exhibited in many ways such as self-admiration, self-will, self-pride, self-glory and self-promotion. But the greatest of all is self-righteousness! Since God "hath made all things for Himself," where self-love prevails, man assumes the place of God, and seeks his own gratification, honor, interest, ease as the ultimate end of his actions. Men "love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil." They "love unrighteousness." This self-love is most obvious in the false religions of men as the Pharisees proved. They "love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men... And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces." They love their own glory rather than Gods and their own righteousness rather than Christs. They love their own opinion more than Gods word. The reason that men and women abort and abandon their own children, put away their parents, kill their fellowman, steal, lie and promote themselves is self-love. But it is also the reason they are "going about to establish their own righteousness," the reason they insist upon their having a "free-will," and promote a religion that honors man and not God! Todays man-centered religions feed this love of self. This is why they spend their time on the pleasures of this world rather than the worship of God. This is why they hurry after that which gratifies the flesh rather than that which feeds the soul. There is only one cure for self-love, "the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by His Spirit." Only the grace and power of God can make us love His righteousness, His glory and His will more than our own. Christ did not say to His disciples, "love yourself" but rather, "deny yourself!"