PURE RELIGION

Romans 15:1-3
“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.”
Love is not truly love until we love another for their sake and their sake alone. This is the kind of love Jesus requires in the relationships He chooses to be engaged with. For instance, Jesus said “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
It is not until we lose our lives for His sake we have truly manifested our love and passion for Jesus. We gain much when our passion for Christ is about Him rather than benefitting ourselves in the equation. The gain we get from our loss is His commitment to us and all that He has to give in the relationship.
Consequently, when our religious acts are politically correct for the sake of our own image, then the praise of those we have sought approval from is all we have in the religious effort. The scripture teaches us “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). This kind of religion is not reserved for just pastors; it is for anyone with a desire to do "pure religion" for the sake of others than for themselves.
Therefore, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world is when we do religion for others rather than to promote our image. This is doing religion from Kingdom perspectives opposed to world perspectives. This kind of living can only be deliberate when it happens in us naturally; when it becomes as the air we breathe. To lose our lives for His sake is the only gain we can get out of life and it be a gain that is unspoiled and eternal or everlasting.
We should love people for their sake not for ours; we should forgive people for their sake, help them for their sake, bare them for their sake, and care about them for their sake. This may not be politically correct to a religious spirit that seeks to build their own image in the eyes of those that are watching. These are those that become lost and bored in a conversation when the conversation is no longer about them or their agenda. Once again, a selfless life can only be deliberate when it happens naturally with no agenda for selfish gain.