What does it mean that love is not self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:5)?
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What does it mean that love is not self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:5)? What does 'love is not self-seeking' mean in terms of how I show love to others?
Source Article: https://www.gotquestions.org/love-is-not-self-seeking.html
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- What does it mean that love is not self -seeking? We're going to answer that question.
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- You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org. Love is the greatest gift that God gives.
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- In 1 Corinthians 13, we have an elegantly beautiful description of God's type of love.
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- To help us understand all that love entails, the Apostle Paul includes some things that love is not.
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- For example, love is not self -seeking, also translated as love does not insist on its own way.
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- The Greek phrase literally means does not seek the things of itself.
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- Self -focus is the antithesis of love. This was evident in the Corinthian church's divisiveness regarding leadership, its attitude toward Paul, its attitude toward legal issues with other
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- Christians, its attitude toward the Lord's Supper, and its attitude toward spiritual gifts.
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- Paul wanted these believers to stop focusing on their own needs and preferences and serve
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- God and one another. The corrective to self -seeking is God -seeking. The remedy for selfishness is love.
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- Jesus said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
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- The second commandment is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love for God and others is to mark the believer, not love for self.
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- Some have mistakenly interpreted love your neighbor as yourself as teaching self -love in order to love others.
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- That is, we must love ourselves first before we can truly love others. But this is not the teaching of the passage.
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- Self -love is assumed to be the default condition. Jesus was teaching that concern for others must equal the natural concern we have for ourselves.
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- Also, Jesus was appealing to the Torah, Do not hate your brother in your heart.
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- Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.
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- I am the Lord. The context deals with treating others fairly, without vengeance, and with love.
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- It has no reference to self -love. This focus on others and their needs corresponds to Philippians 2 .4.
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- Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
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- The command appeals to the selfless actions of Jesus Christ as the ultimate example.
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- The New Testament often mentions the need to turn from self and toward helping other people.
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- A person who demands his own way, who tramples on others' rights for the sake of upholding his own, or who insists on having his due, is not showing love.
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- Love is considerate of others, always. The one who loves is willing to forgo recognition, lay down his rights for the sake of the loved one.
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- Jesus showed love in this way. He did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
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- No self -seeking there. Christian love is not about us, but about others.
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- That answers the question, what does it mean that love is not self -seeking? On our website,
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- GotQuestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources. If this helped you, give us a thumbs up and click subscribe.