UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, NIV).

                As mere victims of society, many people think or believe love to be a feeling. Love is what we do. It is an action word. John 3:16 defines the very root of love in God’s actions. First, He gave. He sacrificed something that was dear to Him for all of us. What have you sacrificed lately to show God that you love Him? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands”. We often say that we love God, but are we showing Him by keeping His commands? God makes it very clear to us that we cannot merely provide Him with lip service. We must show our love for Him by being obedient to Him. In Deuteronomy 6:5, God commands us to ^“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”.

                Unconditional love has no limits. God’s love towards us has no limits. Does your love for God have limits and boundaries? Will you seize to praise Him when things don’t go your way? Will you still bless His name even if it seems you aren’t blessed? Will you still keep His commands and refuse to compromise despite unfavorable circumstances in your life? How deep is your love for God?
               
               God is so generous that He first loved us. He teaches us what love is by His actions towards us. As a result, we might love Him in return, and love others unconditionally. When we understand how God loves us, we will then know how to properly love others and ourselves. God commands us to love. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8, NKJV). God desires for us to love Him so that we may learn to love our neighbor as He loves us. In John 15:12, Jesus declared, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you”. Think of all the mistakes, wrongs, and sins that you’ve committed against God. Nevertheless, God still loves you. He shows this by His grace & mercy towards us. He shows it by His forgiveness of our sins.

                Life’s difficult circumstances and other people’s actions may cause us to question God’s love for us. It may also cause us to compromise our integrity and disobey God. Nevertheless, we must remain in God’s unchanging love. I believe that despite life’s circumstances and disappointments, our love for God must remain unchanged. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (1 Corinthians, 13:7). Challenge yourself today to show God how much you love Him in your actions, words, and lifestyle.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13, NLT).