Against ourselves

Why is it so hard for me to have compassion for myself?
Easier by far to show mercy to others,
while often having only scorn for my own soul.
Perhaps hell resides within us slowly taking root;
the real struggle is simply to show oneself the mercy offered,
if not, then the darkness grows.

There is a melancholy pleasure in self denigration,
pushing oneself under the dark waters.
Arrogance?
I have been told this is so;yet perhaps the message is simple:
self hatred more common than we think.

So hell does not open up and swallow us,
it merely becomes the state we have become,
for Christ came to save us from ourselves,
the prison we build,
or perhaps bury ourselves in.

We fight against ourselves,
we flee from true life for a dungeon,
the walls built against love and compassion;
to become hell is also a hard journey,
perhaps it is better to allow love and compassion to enter.