Self-esteem for example comes before love (3)
I believe the answer is:
ego
'self-esteem' is the definition.
(ego can mean one's sense of self)
'example comes before love' is the wordplay.
'example' becomes 'eg' (short for 'exempli gratia', 'for example' in Latin).
'comes before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'love' becomes 'o' (love means zero in tennis).
'eg'+'o'='EGO'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ego that I've seen before include "Conscious self" , "Self-esteem, sense of self" , "number one" , "Part of the mind" , "See 21 Down" .)