And the greatest of these is LOVE

This quarter's sabbath school lesson ended on social relationships and our need for a social support in our lives. The lesson discussed how people who are sick have a higher chance of getting better if they have a social support. Or that having a strong social support can prevent you from getting sick in the first place. The whole point was, we need people in our lives.
When we were discussing the lesson in sabbath school this week we kind of got in the topic of what kind of social support God intended us to have. We talked about the fact that God originally created human beings with the character that Christ demonstrated while He was here on Earth. When we tried to think of what words could describe Adam and Eve before sin words like pureness, joy, content, and complete unselfishness came up. Complete unselfishness kind of stuck with all of us. We all sat there and thought for a second what this world would look like if we all had complete unselfishness. And it got me to think of so much after that.
The way society today views social relationships is completely different than the way God intended us to experience them. Today the messages that we are constantly getting from society is that it's all about YOU, when God tells us it has nothing to do with you. It has to do with everybody else. I feel that today if we are not happy with a friend, or family member, or husband, or wife we just cast them to the side because they are not benefiting our lives so why keep them there? That's what today's standards are like. Basically if you are not fulfilling my needs for a friend/spouse then you can just leave. And I feel that is why it is so hard to find true real relationships based on love.
If we are supposed to be reflecting Jesus's character to those around us, especially our friends and family, why do we get so mad when they've done something to hurt us? Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him, that Peter was going to deny him, that He was going to be crucified by the very people who had just called Him Messiah. Yet each time He forgave. And on the cross He asked God to forgive us for killing Him. Why? Because we know not what we do. That's the point. WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE DO. We are born sinful and selfish. It is hard for us to grasp the idea of something not centered around us. But that's not what love is. Love is dying to self and choosing to give what you can to those around you. That's the kind of love Jesus demonstrated while He was here on Earth.
Someone in the Sabbath school class said, "what is the opposite of Love? It's not hate, it's SELFISHNESS." That was new to me but too true to deny. If you want to truly love and truly build better relationships choose every day to be there for someone through thick and thin through right and wrong. And remember when they hurt you that they know not what they do and forgive. That alone is one of the biggest testimonies you can give. I pray that I can show that  kind of love to those in my life every day.