Unconditional love

You may or may not have heard this before, but God's love is unconditional. What does that mean, exactly?

• He loves you always


• He loves you no matter the circumstance


• He loves you even when you don't reciprocate


• He loves you no matter what you do


• He loves you wholeheartedly


• He loves you tangibly


• He loves you no matter your self-image


• He loves you even when you forget


• He loves you sacrificially

This means that...

• He receives you with open arms every single time you come back to Him


• He always delights in you


• He empathizes and sympathizes with you


• His heart aches when you are hurting


• He hasn't forgotten about you, and He never will


• He knows what you are going through personally


• His love for you goes above and beyond sin


• He longs to be with you and for you to know Him and His love

Real love, true love, valuable love cannot be bought with money or gifts. But it does have a cost; otherwise, it's cheap love. It requires sacrifice, that sort of cost. Real love is what causes parents to sacrifice so much time, money, and energy for their children. It's what causes friends to make time for each other and stick by one another through hard moments. It's what causes a husband and wife to make changes in their lives in order to live harmoniously with each other. It's what caused Jesus to give up His life on the cross in order to bear the punishment that should have rightfully been mine, and yours.

See, valuable love never comes without some sort of cost. And that's the kind of love we should seek to give and receive. Of course it won't be without pain, and of course it's never easy to constantly love someone, and of course we cannot love completely unconditionally (we're only human, after all). But love like this is so priceless and difficult to find in today's world that when it presents itself, it's truly a marvel and something really cherished.

What is love?

So many people describe love as an emotion, and yes, of course it is. But guess what, Princess? It's only an emotion second. Love is an action first. Love is a choice that we make every day to everyone and everything we come into contact with. It's the decision to serve sacrificially and treat kindly and be abundantly patient with even the people we think we despise. If you don't believe me, think about it this way: You can't command an emotion. I can't say, "Be angry!" and have you honestly become angry at me, though you can pretend. But God commands us to love one another. That makes love more than an emotion. Another way of thinking about it: If someone tells you "I love you" but doesn't show it with his (or her, if you're a guy reading this!) actions, does it really mean anything? How do you feel? Is anything in your relationship with that person truly different? This is totally not to say that love isn't an emotion at all. I still get warm fuzzy feelings with the person I consider myself to be "in love" with. And it's definitely not to make the phrase "I love you" take on a less significant meaning. In fact, it's just the opposite. The fact that love is an action gives the term "love" even more of a meaning and shows us how deeply we need to care for someone in order to love them. It causes us to remember not to take the phrase "I love you" for granted and to understand what it means to love. You love someone through kindness, through patience, through willingly and sacrificially serving that person, even if you have no reason to do so. And the person God has in store for you in your future? He's the one who doesn't just say "I love you," but shows it, too!