We introduce a framework for studying the effects of self-interaction on the construction of point particle initial data in General Relativity. Within this framework we rigorously prove the vanishing mass result of Arnowitt et al. (Phys Rev Lett 4: 375, 1960) regarding point sources. We identify a geometric structure and a scaling parameter that allow one to determine, by controlling the effects of self-interaction, when one does or does not obtain a non-zero mass.