Today (Sorry for being absent for a few days - I try to blog every day when I'm doing a series but it's not always possible) we are focusing on the second part of this verse, love is not selfish.
As human beings born with a sinful nature, our natural bent is toward selfishness. We are self-preservers, looking for the best for ourselves, watching out for number one. This is yet another example of how we cannot truly love without God's love flowing through us - we absolutely cannot! There is no way that we could love unselfishly on our own devices. We could put on our best behavior and our "game faces" for awhile, but our true nature would always come out.
Let's look to the dictionary again, so that we all start from the same place: selfish means devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.
If you look carefully at the dictionary, really squint up your eyes, twist your head a bit, and hold the page just right, you'll see a picture behind those words. The picture of a face. Oh! That face is mine! Because those words describe me.
Someone once told me that what you wake up thinking about in the morning is what you really care about. So, come on, how many of us wake up in the morning thinking about our day, our agenda, our needs? Few of us naturally wake up thinking about others. But we can train ourselves to do so.
It's been a few years since my friend told me that, and it's really stuck with me. How can I say God is most important in my life when I don't even think of him first? How can I say I want his agenda to be my own when my first thoughts are my own agenda?
I wanted my thoughts and my words to match, so over time, as I woke up every morning, I started purposefully thinking about him, singing praise songs, praying. And now when I wake up - not every day, but almost every day - I wake up singing. And that helps me purposefully turn my thoughts, my day, my concerns over to him.
Now what does this have to do with love? When I have turned my thoughts, my day, and my concerns over to God, I am free to lavish my love on others. I can take everything God gives me and turn it outside of me. When I know, beyond a doubt, that God will take care of me, I am free from worry. I am free from doubt. I am free from fear.
Being free means I don't have to think about myself all the time. It means I change my vocabulary from me, me, me to you, you, you.
Check your dictionary. See if you see a picture under the word selfish. See if it's yours! (Although seriously, if you see a picture of yourself in the dictionary, you might want to run! ;0) )
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