To always engage in relationships for our own benefit depletes the resources of the other and impoverishes our own spirit. Relationships rooted in love are harder and harder to find. Love gives to the other. It is inconvenienced for the other. It suffers for the other.
Love dies for the other.
Maybe someday a little girl will understand that her daddy peeled her orange, not to win her love, but because he loved her. Father, I thank you for little children and the lessons they teach me. I confess that my own motives are not far from those of the child who offers personal interaction in exchange for some personal benefit. Thank you that your offer of relationship is not based on what I can give to you in exchange. As your child, purify my motives in relationships.