It may be difficult to love that “difficult” flight attendant colleague without at least hoping he or she will love you back in the end, but the kind of love that does not expect such a response is the most real love of all.
Truly selfless love is a difficult thing for human beings, including Christians, to understand and desire.
We live in a world that places a huge premium on personal fulfillment, on the validity of our own wants, especially as they apply to what we perceive as our own good. The kind of love that is considered desirable in our culture is rarely the love that has no other desire besides the absolute good of its object.
Yet that is exactly what our Lord calls us to cultivate, selfless love. Thank goodness He never asks us to do anything He, Himself, does not also give us the power to do.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (ESV)
