Selfless Love

The thought of selfless love blows my mind. Have you ever thought about it? It is definitely something I cannot grasp. But this is exactly what God calls for us to do. Crazy right? There is so much that can go along with this post so we will see where it goes. I have been thinking about writing this post for a few days. I was talking to a great friend the other day and I was telling her about an experience in which I got to take part in selfless love which was amazing. This description may be a bit vague for confidentiality purposes but I will try to paint this amazing picture for you.

So this experience was at camp, go figure. One week I had this girl. She was so different and unique and I still can't put my finger on why. God had such a big plan for our meeting that week though. Not only in her life but in mine. At the beginning of that week of camp I had prayed that this week that God would show me how to love in a different way....and did He!! This camper just didn't think or understand like I did. And I wanted her to so desperately. There was nothing wrong with her. We were just different people that thought differently. But all week I prayed so hard for this girl to "get it." I talked to her on numerous occasions and I just didn't understand why she couldn't "get it." I honestly wept over this girl. I was angry and frustrated. I felt like God had put up a stand still barrier and for some reason we weren't on the same communication link at all. Little did I know God was doing bigger things. Not until the last night during worship when I was rocking this girl back and forth as she was cradled in my arms sobbing did I realize what God was teaching me. Selfless love. All this girl needed was some love. God had put this girl in my cabin and told me to love her and it took me until my last night with her until I realized that is all that God had called for me to do. He didn't tell me to beat her over the head with a bible or to beg her to understand. He said "She is my child and I am giving her to you this week so that she can see my love." Wow! Also he called me to do it selflessly. Meaning to put myself aside. I wasn't able to see what God had in store until I put myself aside. I wanted her to get it so bad but that isn't what God wanted. This was such a humbling experience for me. Selfless Love!

So when I was telling my friend about this story the other day, it just really got me thinking about the term selfless love. I have used it a lot to describe this story to many people. If I have talked to any of you about camp at all I am sure you have heard the story before. But although I talked about selfless love, I have never really sat down and contemplated it. It is so crazy and beyond my comprehension.

So I just typed and then erased a really long paragraph trying to explain selfless love. But then I quickly realized that I really don't have a definition or a full comprehension of it so therefore I don't want to confuse you with my jumbled thoughts. But basically, in short, to love selflessly is to put yourself aside and let God's love shine.

Just think about it. Think about each word. How selfless are you? Do you let God's love shine in your life? Do you show selfless love?

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8

"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....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. "
1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13