What is love? 1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/1JN.4.KJV Notice that the Bible says that God IS love, not that He has love. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/JHN.3.KJV “Unselfishness, the principle of God’s kingdom, is the principle that Satan hates; its very existence he denies. From the beginning of the great controversy, he has endeavored to prove God’s principles of action to be selfish, and he deals in the same way with all who serve God. To disprove Satan’s claim is the work of Christ and of all who bear His name. Ed 154.3 It was to give in His own life an illustration of unselfishness that Jesus came in the form of humanity. And all who accept this principle are to be workers together with Him in demonstrating it in practical life. To choose the right because it is right; to stand for truth at the cost of suffering and sacrifice— “this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17. Ed 154.4 https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p29.780&index=0 What is the opposite of love? Selfishness How can I say that? I once thought that the opposite of love was hate, and then I thought that it was apathy, but after more study of God’s Word, I believe that the scriptures teach that the opposite of love is selfishness. See what 1 Corinthians 13 says about love, “4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/1CO.13.KJV Charity in this verse is love and love does not seek for her own self. What do you call it when someone does not seek for his or her own self? Unselfish. God’s government is based on unselfishness. What is satan’s government based on? Let’s read Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ISA.14 What is repeated over and over in these texts? I, I, I, Lucifer has an I problem. He is only concerned about himself and what do you call someone like that? Selfish! There’s one sin that is at the root of all other sins and that is selfishness. Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ISA.53.KJV When you have to have your own way, what are you? Selfish! When you go shopping and you look at the ingredients list; the first thing on the list is what the product has the most of. It is the most important ingredient in that product. So when reading the following texts, what is the first thing listed as sin? 2 Timothy 3:1 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/2TI.3.KJV What do you call someone who only loves themselves? Selfish!
I once saw a cartoon about heaven and hell. The pictures were nearly identical. There was a table with a bowl of soup in the middle and there were long spoons. None of the people around the table in hell were eating because the spoons were so long that they could not feed themselves. Around the table in heaven everyone was eating because they were each feeding someone else. To me, this is a clear picture of the characters of those who are in each camp. The camp of the unsaved are only thinking of themselves; while the camp of the saved are always thinking about how to help the other person.
Luke 6:32 “For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/LUK.6.KJV John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/JHN.13.KJV How does God love us? Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ROM.5.KJV Romans 8:38 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ROM.8.KJV Jesus said, in John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” https://www.bible.com/bible/1/JHN.14.KJV
