OK, I'm back. Sorry for the delay. Anyway... We have been looking at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and are on verse 5 which describes love in this way: "... it is not self-seeking..." (NIV). Another version says, "It does not insist on its own way..." (ESV). Wow! This is quite the departure from the world in which we live.
"My rights!" "I have to do what's good for me." "You've got to look out for #1." "Love yourself." These are things I hear all the time. Unfortunately, these are also lies used by Satan to lure us into a self-centered, self-absorbed mentality, binding us to this temporary body which will inevitably return to the earth from which it was formed.
In verse 13, love is described as the greatest of the three things that will remain after everything else passes away. Love goes on long after we are gone. Everyone dies... it's true. But we can leave something behind that will remain... something which can't die. It can't be taken away. It can't be destroyed. However, it can be withheld when we refuse to let go of self and give it away to others. Setting self aside for the sake of love is what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross. The power of love could not be kept in the grave and it is still changing lives today. What will you leave behind when (not if) you die?
