Selfless Love

What is love? Was love created for our selfish benefit? Does everything have to make us feel good? Why is the notion of selfless love so hard to comprehend?

First off…what is love? “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. Love NEVER fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). With this high expectation of love how can any of us claim to love at all? We always fail, we are selfish, we keep track of mistakes, we break promises, and we give up…were does the love come from?

There is this guy who is perfect. He is always patient, He never lies, He is selfless, he forgets all of our mistakes, He always protects us, He never gives up on us even though we deserve it…His love NEVER fails. He made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Now He offers us His gift of love so that we might love others. Crazy hu?

“This was what love meant after all: sacrifice and selflessness. It did not mean hearts and flowers and a happy ending, but the knowledge that another's well-being is more important than one's own.” 
-Melissa de la Cruz

Putting others before ourselves…hmmm. That sounds selfless and very challenging. If we are to love selflessly it is going to come with struggles and mistakes. We are going to go through hard times. “It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others” (Dalai Lama XIV).

 What defines selflessness? Selflessness is putting others first, sacrificing your desires for the good of someone else, generosity, and having less concern for yourself than another person. Being selfless is not something that happens over night. We are born irrepressibly selfish by nature. It is only through the help of the most selfless creator that we even have a chance of achieving this lofty goal.

“All that we are is a result of what we have thought: we are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy whenever they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them. “

-Buddha

I pray that we all can give some of this love to the world. “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:19). It may seem impossible but with God’s help we can do anything.