But now thou wilt say: How shall I love him that is bad as well and truly as him that is good? To this I say thus: That thou shalt love both good and bad in charity, but not for the same cause as I shall tell how. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Now, thou shalt love thyself only in God, or else for God. In God thou lovest thyself, when thou art righteous and virtuous through grace, and lovest not thyself but only for that righteousness and virtues that God giveth thee, then lovest thou thyself in God, for thou lovest not thyself, but God. Also, thou lovest thyself for God, when being in deadly sin thou desirest to be made righteous and virtuous, for then thou lovest not thyself as thou art (for thou art unrighteous), but as thou wouldst be. (John Climacus)

I honor myself; understand, justify, and forgive myself, whether or not I am in God.

At times when being in deadly sin, I am proud of myself and self-love overflows.

I am learning a great deal from Climacus, but here I perceive he is attempting to define and limit our love of self in order to do likewise for neighbor.

Jesus taught I am to love the Lord my God with all my heart, and mind, and soul, and my neighbor as myself.

Love for neighbor is poised between these two poles: the love we have for our most worthy God and our least worthy selves. Precisely because we are unworthy, we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.