Immediate past Deputy Youth Director of the Youth Ministry of the Church of Pentecost, a Counsellor, Consultant and Inspirational speaker, Amos Kevin Annan has outlined the difference between loving oneself and being selfish.
He was interviewed on the Springboard Hangout Show which airs on eTV Ghana with host, Comfort Ocran, where he forwarded his observation that most of the time, people mistake loving themselves for being selfish and that is wrong.
According to the man of God, self-love is “respecting yourself, preserving yourself and treating yourself with regard so that nobody takes you for granted or treats you as though you’re nothing”. Selfishness, on the other hand, is when one becomes an opportunist and wants everything to be at their beck and call.
People who are selfish, per his explanation, value themselves beyond what is reasonable, however, people who love themselves develop a certain insulation to protect themselves from danger, harm and reckless actions.
“Do to others how you would want others to treat you so in loving others, it is practically impossible to love others when you hate yourself”, he said. From this, Pastor Kevin-Annan explained that it is very important to love oneself because without self-love, one cannot love others as the Bible requires us to do.
By: Maureen Dedei Quaye