WHAT DOES SELFLESS LOVE MEAN TO YOU??? | Alex Oduanam

WHAT DOES SELFLESS LOVE MEAN TO YOU?

DEFINITION:

Selfless love could be defined as a sacrifice rendered to someone who does not deserve it – Alex Oduanam.

In other words, selfless love is that love or sacrifice you render to that man, woman, child, family, organization, community, your husband or wife etc. which you know very well that they do not deserve it. Let’s look at these illustrations;

FAMILY ‘A’

The man of the house came back home from work, and the wife cheerfully welcomed him, collected his bag, helped him to remove his suit jacket, loosen his tie, gave him a kiss and walk him down to the dining table and said to the husband ‘’honey, I prepared your favorite meal, and I know you will enjoy it’’. The husband was very happy for his wife. After he finished eating, he went to his bag and brought out an iPhone, very expensive one. He said to the wife ‘’honey I came across this device as I was coming from work so I decided to buy it for you my dear wife because I love you.

FAMILY ‘B’

The man of the house came back home from work and met the wife in the sitting room painting her nails without acknowledging the presence of the husband. The husband greeted her and asked how she was doing. She responded and still continued with what she was doing without giving the husband a cheerful welcome. The husband went to the room and undressed, came back to ask the wife for something to eat. The wife told him, ‘’as you can see I am very busy with my nails, please if you are hungry, go to the kitchen, prepare something and eat. And the husband followed the wife’s instruction, went down to the kitchen and looked for something to eat. After he has finished eating, he brought out an iPhone from his bag which he bought for the wife. He said to the wife ‘’honey, I came across this iPhone as I was coming back from work and I know you will love it, so i decided to buy it for you my dear wife because I love you…

From what you’ve read, which of these men in the short illustration actually demonstrated selfless love? I know majority will point at the first man in family ‘A’. That is where we get everything wrong. We hear the word love every day, we preach love every day, we even claim to be practicing love. But how many people truly understand what love is? Selfless love means to love regardless of your personal needs. It means loving without any attachment to an expectation in return. It means whatever you do, do it from your heart. This comes purely from a place within you which has no preconceived expectation of accolades, acknowledgment, or reciprocity in return. In so doing, you’ve deeply expressed what is called profound ecstatic love at that point in time. You have no thought of personal gain or satisfaction. You do it because it feels so good to do it. It’s in fact selfish to expect anyone to respond to you the way you want them to base on what you’ve done for them.

Everyone desires love. Everyone wants to feel loved but little do we consider how we must demonstrate this love selflessly through our own actions and interactions with others. So therefore my good readers, this is the gospel truth, know it today that selfless love is not an appreciation, is not a reciprocation, is not doing to others because they once did same to you, is not expecting returns from someone we made sacrifice to. But rather, it’s a sacrifice rendered to those who has wronged you in one way or the other in the past. It’s a sacrifice you render that person which you know does not deserve it. By so doing you have fulfilled the law of selfless love and also fulfilled the gospel. Remember John 3:16 says ‘’for God so loved the world, that he gave his only son’’. Does the world actually deserve the death of Christ?

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled shall we be saved through his life. Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation – Romans 5:8 – 11.

My command is this; love each other as I have loved. Greater love has no-one than this that he lay down his life for his friends – John 15:12 & 13.

CONCLUSION

Learn from today how to love selflessly and unconditionally. For whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him, not because we deserve this selfless sacrifice. This is what I call selfless love, not that we loved God that made him sent his son as an atoning for our sins, but because he loved us selflessly.

So my dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it is in your power to act and show love simply because this person has offended you in time past.

Thank you for reading.

DISCLAIMER

The information contained on this blog is written based on my own empirical understanding and is true for me at the time they were written. However, as I continue to grow in knowledge and understanding, what I perceived as the truth will definitely change, as a result of this – the information contained on this blog may not reflect my current outlook. Therefore, I am not liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, arising out of or in connection with the contents of this blog.

Alex Oduanam

www.alexoduanam.blogspot.com