Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
—Philippians 2:4
People demanding their rights are usually loud. Often angry. Sometimes threatening.
We live in a culture that is concerned with rights more than duties; that insists on privilege more than accountability; that feels deserving of entitlement more than responsibility. Such is not the deportment of love.
“Love is not self-seeking.” Other translations have it: “Love does not insist on its own way” (RSV); “[Love] is not self-absorbed” (the VOICE); “[Love] is not selfish” (NCV).
Love doesn’t seek its own advantage to the disregard of the feelings and needs of others. When life is “all about me,” love, by definition, is absent. Self-centeredness is never satisfied—it always needs its next fix.
Life finds its greatest joy in giving, not getting; in serving, not being served.
Self-centered people have “I” disease.