1 Corinthians 13:4 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,”

1 Corinthians 13:5 “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;”

These verses are taken from the great chapter on “charity” in the Bible.

Charity is the goal and endpoint of saving faith “Now the end of the commandment is charity”.

It is the forming and perfection of Christ in the child of God “the bond of perfectness”.

What we believe is meant to change who and how we are!

And charity is the most important thing to possess… because without it “and have not charity, I am nothing”

Jesus said to a rich young ruler one day “Yet lackest thou one thing”… a guy who had everything, like most of us pretty well do… and yet didn’t have the one thing that mattered.

Recently I’ve been thinking about the tiny little phrase “seeketh not her own” here in relation to charity.

We live in a world where everyone is seeking their own, if there’s one thing we know about humanity, it’s that we are selfish creatures nearly fully preoccupied with self interests and self preservation.

What do we do that is truly not just about serving ourselves ultimately?

Indeed as Paul wrote to the Philippian church “For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”

And when we are selfish, that generally comes at the expense of others. We are all guilty of serving ourselves OF others rather than serving others.

When the Bible says “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” it means putting the interests, needs and welfare of others before our own.

Which may not come naturally to us! Particularly because we can get into this mindset where we think we need to preserve, ensure and look out for our self interests “look out for number one” to get what we are entitled to and deserve in life.

But it shouldn’t be so for Christians. Being a Christian is meant to be a sacrificial life, putting Christ and others first, and letting God take care of our interests “for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things”.

Remember, it is God who exalts and God who abases.

Charity and this kind of life is not too far off! Nehemiah, though he seems like a rough tough dude in the Bible… yet he had charity “there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel”.

Nehemiah’s life was not about seeking his own, but rather about seeking God and the welfare of the people of God! So it is possible!

Jesus asked a bunch of guys who had just started following him in John 1 “what seek ye?”

… and after some necessary self examination that we should all perform of our own lives, could we also possibly be a “seeketh not her own”?

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