Love Is Not Self-Seeking

Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking.Of the definitions I've given in this study of Love, this is one I probably don't need to give. But for the record, self-seeking means:

Concerned only with oneself: egocentric, egoistic, egoistical, egomaniacal, egotistic, egotistical, self-absorbed, self-centered, self-involved, selfish, self-serving, or wrapped up in oneself.

In our very first study on this journey through Love, we found "together" in the scriptures that, to Love God and one another is the most important thing to God. Now that you know love is most important to God, then understanding what Love is should be our most important search and here we are in the teachings of God concerning Love. Consider the following also:

"[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]" Philippians 3:10.

In this verse, and many others like it, we see that on one hand our personal relationship is most important... But also what He wants and is doing is now important to us as well. Reconciliation or restoring of the relationship between the Man and God, is what Jesus came and ultimately died for. Putting it back to what God designed it to be... Fixing the lost connection betwween created and The Creator. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption (on the cross).

I cease to be loving when I become self-seeking, only interested in the development of my own needs and desires. I see this is true because, "if Christ committed His life for this cause, and now I have decided to live for Christ, then reconciliation of the human race is now what I want.

Note: Reconciliation is sharing Christ with everyone through being an example of love, witnessing, sharing the good news about Christ, and bringing everyone you can into a personal relationship with Him.

Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body... Bringing those He (Christ) sends us into a relationship with Him.

OK, so, to fulfill God's perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.

So, Here is the bottom line... If I Love God then I must trust in and rely upon Him for my needs. If I do that, then I no longer need to be concerned with myself. I can now, Love everyone the way God loves.

Galatians 6, "1BRETHREN, IF any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also. 2Bear (endure, carry) one another's burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it]. 3For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another's load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself."

Love is not self-seeking.

I Love you.