A Love Unconditional
Hey BAE’s!
This month, my family celebrates my parents’ anniversary and my mom’s birthday. It’s crazy that they’ve been together for over 35 years. Their love for the Lord and one another continues to inspire me, a love that’s unconditional.
What Does That Even Mean?
I’ve encountered someone in my life that told me that they didn’t know what unconditional love meant. Truly, it was heartbreaking to hear.
Unconditional love is choosing to love someone without expectation, regardless of who they are. The greatest example of love, what and who love is, is God.
We hear John 3:16 all the time, but the verse that comes after needs to be emphasized as well.
“God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:17 NLT
God didn’t send Jesus to persecute humanity, but to be a tangible example of what it means to love unconditionally. We could have been left to fend for ourselves, but Jesus endured the ultimate suffering because He loves us and wanted to save us.
Though we can’t wash away the sins of those around us, we can still follow Jesus’s example of loving unconditionally.
Okay, but How?
Last month, Jonah wrote about loving hard people. The process starts with you! Search your heart to evaluate the things that are keeping you from loving that person. Pray for them and ask God why they’ve been placed in your life. Invite the Holy Spirit to be in the midst of your interactions…because God knows we need the grace and patience in these “tough to love” situations.
The heart-work is definitely hard work.
But like Jesus, we’ve been called not to judge others. There’s no need for competition or comparison. Operating on the Love of Lord means humbling ourselves and remembering that loving them is not for your own benefit, but for the Kingdom.
It’s not about you, but it starts with you. It starts with opening up your heart to be used by God. You may be called to simply plant a seed or even just an occasional water. Regardless of proximity or intimacy, you’ve been called to love God's people.
Love is a choice, whether we choose to do so from a distance or in close proximity. Some people will be hard to love, but just as God loves us, we should love His people as well. I pray that you all look to the Word to grasp what and who love is.
Praying for and Loving you always,
Angeli <3