Tuesday, September 22 [Love] does not look for its own interests.​—1 Cor. 13:5.

[Áine]

Tuesday, September 22

[Love] does not look for its own interests.—1 Cor. 13:5.

 

Jehovah will not bless the efforts of anyone who is driven by pride or selfish ambition. (1 Cor. 10:24, 33; 13:4) At times, even Jesus’ closest companions reached out for privileges for the wrong reason. Consider an event involving two of Jesus’ apostles—James and John. They asked Jesus to give them special prominence in his Kingdom. Jesus did not commend them for their ambition. Instead, he explained to all 12 apostles: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all.” (Mark 10:35-37, 43, 44) Brothers who reach out with the proper motive—that is, to serve others—will be a blessing to the congregation.—1 Thess. 2:8. w24.11 15-16 ¶7-8

[Seasider]

1 Corinthians 13 is a masterful description of Christian love . Love is the very ethos of genuine Christianity. It certainly does not promote its own  interests over that of others. Paul said “ without love I am nothing “  and that must be true of all of us .
 

[LeolaRootStew]

A great question to ask yourself when you are "trying to help": am I doing this for myself or Jehovah? If our goal is to further Jehovah's goals, we will be happy that an assignment is being fulfilled, even if it's by others. Of course we want to help, but we want the assignment to be fulfilled more than we are concerned about who gets the assignment.

 

What does this teach me about Jehovah: Jehovah values obedience and a volunteer spirit over abilities and ego. One layman who shows up is more valuable than 10 professionals who don't. If we give our best, with the proper motives, Jehovah will appreciate us.