Do you ever get annoyed with the way we toss around the word “love” these days? I mean we just love so many things. We love our car (maybe), we love a cute pair of shoes, we love pizza and ice cream sundaes, and we love our sports teams. We throw the word around so much that it seems to have lost some of its luster, its ability to move us.
But it’s not just the overuse of the word “love” that has minimized the impact. We seem to give and retract our love all too quickly. Take any of the previous examples, we love our cars until they get old and break down. We love our shoes until we see some newer ones. We love pizza and hot fudge sundaes until they land on our hips or waistline. We love our sports teams if and only if they win. This is what we call conditional love. It is clearly the most common variety, and you get it most anywhere these days at least for a while.
But such a love leaves us wanting more, doesn’t it? We wish for something deeper and more profound. We long for a love that will last, not just for a few days, weeks, or months, but for a lifetime. We long for what we call unconditional love. This kind of love is difficult to find these days even if you are looking. And the truth is, we were made for love, not only to receive it, but also to give it.
The very core of our being was wired to crave love. To need a love that doesn’t depend upon on how we have performed or how we are acting at the moment. The Lord has remade us as His children and His followers to give and receive a love that won’t let go. A love that will last. Let the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians 5:1,2 sink in. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us…”
But how do we do this? How can we give unconditional love when others don’t act very loveable, when we feel we’re the ones that ought to be loved first, just this once? In short, how do we love like Jesus without conditions?
Scripture teaches that we are to let the giver of love give His love through us. That is the mystery of our faith, “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)
Remember, Jesus died for us to give His life to us, to live His life through us. Let’s look at II Corinthians 4:11 which reads: “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body.” His life is a life of love.
Do you remember the song that went like this “What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of”? Words still relevant today.
LIFE LESSON: By receiving His love that comes without conditions, we simply become a channel, an instrument for God’s love to flow through us to those around us in need of the same unconditional love.
Jesus spoke these words in John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
We appreciate your continued support and for partnering with us to proclaim the truth in God’s Word about His amazing grace. To Him be the glory!
God is continuing to use and work through our Minibuk and ministry. Glory to God!