SELFLESS LOVE

“Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” – John 19:25-26.

You don’t have to look very far to see that our society is very self-centered, very “me-centered.” You also don’t have to look very far to see that we, as believers, struggle with being selfless as well. What does it mean to be selfless anyway? Does it mean to think of yourself less or does it mean something completely different? Well, according to Webster’s dictionary, to be selfless means having no concern for self: unselfish. So, it is not thinking about yourself less but completely removing yourself from the equation to care for others.

One particularly striking aspect of God’s love is selflessness. This particular characteristic of God is truly astounding. This selflessness will take you by surprise because it is not something that we, as humans, are used to. We don’t see it very often. We are always suspicious toward people because we know that the bottom line is ‘What’s in it for me?’ But it is not so with God. He honestly and simply just cares about you, with no strings attached.

If you were in the process of dying from crucifixion, you would be likely thinking about yourself and only about yourself. Yet, even as Jesus faced a grueling, agonizing death, He was still thinking about others. First, He asked God to forgive His persecutors. Then, Jesus turns His attention to His mother.  Jesus bears the weight of the entire world’s sins on His shoulders, and yet He takes one last opportunity to ensure His Mother is taken care of before He leaves this earth.

Jesus speaks these words to Mary, “Dear woman, here is your son,” referring to John, one of His disciples. Jesus was communicating, “Don’t worry about the future. I took care of you while I was alive. John is going to take care of you after I am gone.” Just as Jesus is leaving to prepare an eternal, heavenly home for His Mother, He also provides an earthly home for her before He dies.

In His greatest agony, He still loved His family selflessly. We should learn from what Jesus did on the cross for His Mother. We must take every opportunity to love those dearest to us while with them. We must selflessly love with the time we have been given. Family is a gift we must never take for granted.

God is love. We never need to question His motives in what He does or does not do. Everything He does is done out of His amazing love for sinful people. The more we learn to trust Him and not buck against Him, the more we will see how He is shaping us into the type of person we are intended to be.

Discussion Questions:

1. What can we learn from “woman, here is your son?  What does this teach us about Jesus?
2. How does this relate to love for and responsibility for our family?