1 Kings 3:22-28: in context

Two women come before King Solomon, each claiming to be the mother of a living child, the other's child having died. There is no way to tell who is telling the truth, and they argue before the king. Solomon calls for a sword and orders the living child divided in two, half to each. At this, the true mother, her heart yearning for her son, cries out, give her the living child; do not kill him. But the false claimant says, divide him; he shall be neither mine nor yours. And Solomon, discerning the true mother by her love, gives her the child.

The true mother was revealed by her love, and specifically by her willingness to sacrifice her own claim for the child's good. When the child was threatened, her love for him overrode her desire to win the dispute; she would rather give him up to the other woman than see him harmed. Her love sought the child's good above her own interest, even at the cost of losing him. The false claimant, by contrast, would rather see the child destroyed than let the other have him; she had no love that sought his good, only a desire to win. And it was the self-giving love, willing to sacrifice its own claim for the child's good, that marked the true mother. This reveals the nature of true love: it seeks the good of the beloved, even at cost to itself. The false claimant sought her own interest, willing to see the child harmed rather than lose; the true mother sought the child's good, willing to sacrifice her own claim to save him. And this is the mark of genuine love everywhere: not seeking its own, but the good of the one loved, willing to sacrifice its own interest for the beloved's sake. Love does not seek its own, Paul says; the true mother's love sought not her own claim but the child's good. This searches the nature of our own love. Is our love genuine, seeking the good of those we love even at cost to ourselves, willing to sacrifice our own interest for their sake? Or is it, like the false claimant's, a self-seeking that would rather have its own way than truly seek the beloved's good? True love is revealed, as the true mother's was, by its willingness to sacrifice its own claim, its own interest, for the good of the one loved. Greater love has no one than this, Jesus says, than to lay down his life for his friends; the greatest love is the most self-giving. And this points to the love of Christ, who, seeking our good, gave up everything, even his life, for us, the true love that sacrifices itself for the beloved. This calls us to a love that seeks the good of others even at cost to ourselves. The true mother was revealed by her willingness to give up her own claim rather than see the child harmed; and true love, everywhere, is self-giving, seeking the good of the beloved above its own interest. Let our love be like the true mother's, and like Christ's: not self-seeking, but willing to sacrifice its own claim and interest for the good of those we love, seeking their good even at cost to ourselves, which is the mark of genuine love and the reflection of the love of Christ, who gave himself for us.

Is my love genuine, seeking the good of those I love even at cost to myself and willing to sacrifice my own interest for their sake, or is it, like the false claimant's, a self-seeking that would rather have its own way than truly seek the beloved's good, and can the true mother, revealed by her willingness to give up her own claim rather than see her child harmed, together with Christ who gave himself for us, move me to a self-giving love that seeks the good of others above my own interest, even at cost to myself?