In the Bible, self-love as such is seen to be a sinful thing. After all, what is the essence of sin but that we are curved in on ourselves, placing self, rather than God, at the center of the universe. And so Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, tells us that one of the hallmarks of the last days is that people will be “lovers of themselves” instead of “lovers of God,” and that is precisely where we are in our society today.