How do we love? Why do we love?

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." --1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

One very sad truth that I have come to realize is how selfish of a nation we are. Scratch that: my eyes have opened to the truth of how selfish we are as a human race. I am guilty. I have been recently thinking about how I do things for people expecting them to do something similar for me in return: to make me feel as if my time given to them is worth my while, but is that what God calls us to do? Absolutely not! Paul says himself in his letter to the Corinthians that love "is not self-seeking," yet I am sure that people do things for others with selfish intentions all the time. Jesus also says in Luke 14:

"When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (vv. 12-14).

Let's look at the questions I posed initially: How do we love? We should love like God loves us, and God showed His love by sending Jesus to die on the cross. We can never repay Him for the sacrifice He made, but He did it anyway.

So wait, why do we love? We don't want to love for self-gain. When we accept Christ into our lives, we learn that the Holy Spirit is not only with us but within us, and the Holy Spirit is GOD! We are given the privilege to represent Christ in a sort of way that when we walk through the darkness, we are able to shine God's light through our actions, and our actions ought to be shaped by the love described in 1 Corinthians 13: the love that God shows to us every day!

Let us pray:

God, I want to love selflessly. I don't want to simply do things for others in order to get things in return. Help me to love like You love me. Father, break my heart for what breaks yours, and open my eyes to opportunities to reach out to the least of these. It's in Your Son's precious Name I pray these things. Amen.

God willing, tomorrow will come, "[a]nd now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13).

God bless!