This certainly supposes that we are, within proper limits, to love ourselves. The Scriptures not only allow, but command us, to have a due regard for our own happiness. Every promise of the Bible is based upon the principle that it is right for us, within proper limitations, to pursue our own welfare. But this principle so proper in itself must be carefully regulated and kept within the bounds which God has prescribed or it becomes sinful and pernicious. Self-love takes into account the whole of our existence for time and for eternity.
Selfishness looks at present interest and present gratification.
There is scarcely a crime which man commits, or a sin of which he is guilty, which does not originate in selfishness. It is the bitter fountain in which every corrupt stream has its source. It is the evil tree which bears every manner of pernicious fruit. The more it is gratified, the more inordinate are its cravings. It becomes most intense when there is least apology for its existence.