He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.’ And ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ”
Luke 10:27
I s your love selfless or selfish? Selfish love demands something in return. Love, acceptance, kindness, concern—something. It gives, therefore it wants to get. Selfish love is always thinking, “What’s in it for me?” And it’s always asking, “Why should I love you when you won’t love me back?” But selfish love isn’t really love at all, because true love thinks nothing of itself but focuses on loving others in order to serve them and Christ, who is our example of selfless love.
Unconditional love is something we all want as human beings. We want to be loved no matter what we do, but how often are we willing to return love the same way? We make demands and set rules on our love, but true love doesn’t make demands. It is given freely and abundantly. The only rule when it comes to giving love is that love for a human can never come before our love for God. Our love should never try to replace the Holy Spirit but should flow from his presence.
How many times do you give kindness and then scream when you get anger in return? How many times do you give advice and then complain when it isn’t followed? Do you resent it when you give understanding and compassion and receive nothing of the kind in return? The love you give to others should never be conditional on what you get back but should come from knowing the God who first loved you. You should be compelled by his love, not the response from other people. You should be defined by his love, not the actions of others. When your focus is not getting but giving, then your love will grow, and through that all other virtues will flow.