10. God never acts in self-interest.
Love is not self-seeking. {1 Corinthians 13:5}
God is looking for love with His intelligent creatures, because He is love, and this means that in His very nature, He is totally selfless. We should take a moment to really stop and think about this, because when we say God is love, we’re usually referring to how He acts, not what He is. At its heart, love is not self-seeking. It is totally selfless. This is why God, who is love, isn’t a solitary guy. It’s why there’s not a “supreme dictator” at the helm of the universe, but rather a God-community of three Persons sharing responsibilities and taking joy in serving one another.
If that sounds odd, think about the places in the Bible where Jesus talked about the Father and the Spirit. He says things like, “Father, may Your name be glorified,” and, “The Spirit will be the one to lead you into all truth.” Later in Scripture, Paul said that because of what Jesus did in becoming one of us, the Father exalted Him to the very highest place in the universe—even above His own throne.
This embodiment of supreme love, which does not operate on the basis of self-interest, is the very engine of life for the universe. So when God turns to His creation, He continues to be defined by selfless-ness. With us, as within the God-community, He never acts in self-interest. He never acts primarily for His own benefit. Before He acts in any given situation, His thought is never what will be best for Himself, but what will be best for us.
The primary principle of God’s kingdom is not survival of the fittest, but protection of the weakest. It’s not self-exaltation, but self-sacrifice. In fact, it’s encoded right into the most famous Bible verse: God so loved the world that He gave. That’s the very essence of love.
If you want to dig deeper—
Genesis 1:1-2
Proverbs 3:11-12
Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah 9:6
Luke 6:35
John 3:16
John 13:34
John 15:9, 26
Romans 12:10
Romans 13:9
1 Corinthians 10:24
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
2 Corinthians 13:14
Philippians 2:5-8
1 John 3:16
1 John 4:7-8