Love of self is the root of all evil
Self is the ground of all blessing
Our unique personal existence is God's Original Gift. He created each one of us in His own image and likeness (Gen 1:27-28).
Self is what we give to God and to each other in love. There is no gift that we can give that is greater than the gift of self.
Jesus uses the healthy love of self as the standard by which to determine whether we truly love others: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself" (Mk 12:31).
Self-centeredness is the root of all evil
Love of Money?
St. Paul says that "love of money is the root of all evils":
- "Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains" (1 Tim 6:9-10).
This is an exaggeration or hyperbole of some kind.
The Catholic tradition does not take this verse literally.
It may well be that love of money was the cause of the all of the sins that Paul was thinking of while writing to Timothy, but it does not cover the whole range of sins.
We see seven deadly sins, not one. Love of money (greed) is just one of them:
- Pride
- Greed
- Lust
- Anger
- Gluttony
- Envy
- Sloth
"Love of money" (greed) does not explain the sin of the angels nor the sin of Adam and Eve.
Love of money is rooted in love of self.
It is love of self that explains all other sins.
Charity covers a multitude of sins
"But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you" (Lk 11:41).
Love of Self
Self is what destroys our relationship to God and to our beloved--if we put self first and say "My will be done" instead of "Thy will be done."
Love of self is what set the fallen angels against God. Angels are pure spirits who have no use for money. Love of money cannot be the cause of their evildoing.
Adam and Eve had no money to gain by sin or to lose by obeying God. Their choice was strictly between self-love and love of God.
Love of self lies behind the love of money. We value money as a means to an end--"money" represents all the things that can be done with it. The deceptive charm of the things that money can buy is the promise, "If you had me, I would make you happy." The quest for happiness, therefore, is deeper than the quest for money.
"The root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free will, according to the teaching of the Lord: 'For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man' (Mt 15:19-20). But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds" (CCC #1853).
Seeking happiness is good. God designed us to desire eternal happiness with Him and with all of His angels and saints. Our desire for happiness leads us astray when we treat something other than God as if it were God.
Building on self is building on sand. Our faith is in God, not in self.