Selfish Love

Discipleship Devotional, February 21st, 2025

“Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, ‘You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!’ ‘Why should he be put to death? What has he done?’ Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.”
—1 Samuel 20:30-33 (NIV)

In our anchor passage, we find the story of King Saul and Jonathan, where Saul becomes enraged with Jonathan for supporting David. This is a powerful example of selfish love. While Saul’s actions may seem like he’s fighting for Jonathan’s future on the throne, it’s clear that his true motivation is to preserve his own legacy, not Jonathan’s. This is revealed when Saul, in anger, hurls a spear at his own son. If Saul’s intent had truly been out of love for Jonathan, he would not have responded with such violence. His actions were about sustaining his own name, not caring for Jonathan’s well-being.

Today, many people profess love in this same way. When they say they love you, what they often mean is that they love the way you make them feel or the benefits you bring them. While enjoying each other’s company is natural, if love is based only on self-serving interests, it can quickly become harmful. Just as Saul’s “love” for Jonathan turned to rage and violence when things didn’t go his way, selfish love can often harm those it claims to protect.

This is not the love Christ teaches us. The love of Christ is selfless, not selfish. It calls us to put others before ourselves, to love with pure hearts, and to seek the good of others as much as our own. Sadly, even some parents demonstrate this type of selfish love toward their children, caring more about how their children make them feel or look than about the children’s well-being. This should not be so.

Today, I urge you to examine how you love others. Ask yourself, is your love like Saul’s—self-seeking and conditional—or like the love of Christ, which is selfless and pure?

PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, help me to love selflessly as You do, to be willing to lay down my life for others. Amen!