{"id":24307,"date":"2015-02-08T00:20:11","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T05:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=24307"},"modified":"2015-02-07T23:47:48","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T04:47:48","slug":"utterly-unselfish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/08\/utterly-unselfish\/","title":{"rendered":"Utterly Unselfish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<If I>\u2026have not love (God\u2019s love in me), I gain nothing.<\/span>
\nLove endures long and is patient and kind; <\/span>
\nlove never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, <\/span>
\nis not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.<\/span>
\nIt is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); <\/span>
\nit is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. <\/span>
\nLove (God\u2019s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, <\/span>
\nfor it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; <\/span>
\nit takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].<\/span>
\nIt does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness,
\nbut rejoices when right and truth prevail.<\/span>
\nLove bears up under anything and everything that comes, <\/span>
\nis ever ready to believe the best of every person, <\/span>
\nits hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, <\/span>
\nand it endures everything [without weakening].<\/span>
\nLove never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].<\/span>
\n1 Corinthians 13:3b-8<\/span><\/p>\n

Does reading this passage make anyone else uncomfortable? \u00a0It is like reading a list of my most glaring faults. \u00a0I strive to live and love this way, but, mostly, I fall exceedingly short.<\/p>\n

My Life Application Study Bible<\/em> has this note for the above passage:<\/p>\n

\u201cGod\u2019s kind of love is directed outward towards others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Look at it like this…<\/p>\n

\n

{Love}<\/span> is patient\/long-suffering \u00a0{Love}<\/span> is NOT envious
\n {Love}<\/span> is kind \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0{Love}<\/span> is NOT jealous
\n{Love}<\/span> bears all things \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0{Love}<\/span> is NOT proud
\n{Love}<\/span> believes the best \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0{Love}<\/span> is NOT rude
\n {Love}<\/span> does not celebrate evil \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0{Love}<\/span> is NOT self-seeking
\n {Love}<\/span> rejoices when truth wins \u00a0\u00a0{Love}<\/span> is NOT irritable
\n {Love}<\/span> never gives up
\n{Love}<\/span> does not keep score
\n{Love}<\/span> is always hopeful
\n {Love}<\/span> is enduring
\n{Love}<\/span> never fails<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Utterly unselfish love<\/em><\/span>, possible only with God\u2019s help<\/p>\n

Whew!!! \u00a0That\u2019s a tall order. \u00a0Try reading that passage with your name<\/strong><\/span> in place of {Love}<\/span>. \u00a0(Did anyone besides me just say OUCH?!?) I am not all those things yet…but I can continue to work towards them. What I need to remember is that is not important how many times I fail, but how many times I get back up. Perseverance is key.<\/strong> <\/span><\/em>Hebrews 12:1b (NIV) encourages us to \u201crun with perseverance<\/span> the race marked out for us….\u201d James 1:4 tells us we must \u201cLet perseverance<\/span> finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.\u201d God will always be there to help if I am willing to persevere and ask Him for help. The neat thing\u2014God has already provided us with everything we need. Paul reminds us of this in Galatians 5:22-23 (AMP):<\/p>\n

\n

But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We have been given the Holy Spirit Who can strengthen these characteristics in us and bring them to light in our lives!<\/h4>\n

By this all people will know that you are My disciples,
\nif you have love for one another.
\nJohn 13:35 HCSB<\/p>\n

The measure of Christian maturity is how we display love. We are nothing if we don’t have love. I want to be more than that. What I desire most is to display love as Christ did.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n

Father, help me persevere. I want to love as You love. Let my natural desires fade away as I seek to show love outwardly toward others…not considering myself. It is only possible with Your guidance and the Holy Spirit working in me. In Jesus\u2019 name I ask this \u2013 Amen, So Be It!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<If I>\u2026have not love (God\u2019s love in me), I gain nothing. Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[1682,5889,3367,408,1287,425,493,2449,3181,3174,8387,8388],"class_list":["post-24307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-1-corinthians-13","tag-cynda-cottrill","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-galatians-522-23","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-hebrews-121","tag-john-1335","tag-perseverance","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-selfless","tag-utterly-unselfish-love","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-6k3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24307"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24309,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24307\/revisions\/24309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}