They Call it Unconditional

Happy Thing of the Day: "the place that brings you peace" (via thingstobehappyabout.com)

Love is kind of a tricky subject.  We use the word so carelessly sometimes, or maybe just in place of a different word.  Other languages have multiple words for "love" to better describe the love that they are really feeling.  In French, for example, there is aimer, adorer, amour, (there may be more, but my French brain is failing me right now).  You get the idea though, we have one word for every different kind of "love" that we have for someone or something.  When I tell my best friend I love her, and then tell Wade I love him...completely different kinds of love.

When I was in high school, we covered the four different loves in youth group, the most important being Agape, which is the love we receive from Christ.  It's a concept that can sometimes be hard to wrap your head around, especially when you grow up with parents who tell you "no one can love you more than I do"...but there is someone, there is Jesus.

I have ventured into a new book, and so far, I (insert some less cliche word than love) it! It's called Exploring the Depths of God's Love by Charles Stanley. It's incredible, I highly recommend it, and I'm only 3 chapters in.  So my next couple of posts will probably be about love and this book, so bare with me for a few posts.  These first three lessons were amazing, but I'm going to talk about them out of order, so if you pick up the book, don't follow my posts with the order!

One lesson is titled "You are Loved". What a perfect way to start a new chapter! So encouraging.  It also doesn't hurt that a few sentences in to the chapter, they quote the exact same verse that I do up in the title of this blog.  Romans chapter 5...highly recommended! It talks about how God's love is poured out for everyone.  And the biggest and BEST part of this lesson is that he makes a point of saying everyone is loved by God, and it is given freely.  You cannot "earn" God's love.  You can ask for it, and you can receive it, but you cannot earn it.  It is free, but it is not given without a little bit of effort.  God does not go where He is not wanted.  If you don't want God in your life, He will not force Himself on you, He waits patiently for you to come home!

This is why I am talking about these lessons out of order, because one of the other lessons talks about how God's love is UNCONDITIONAL. Once you accept God's love, He will NEVER take it away from you.  Unconditional love was always a big deal in my house.  Once we reached an age where we could understand it, both my maternal grandparents and my parents talked to us about how their love for us was unconditional.
  That no matter what we did, they would love us. My mom has even used the example that we could commit murder and she would still love us.  My mom's favorite thing to say is "no one messes with my kids".  She loves us enough to step in front of a bus for us...and because we were given that love, I know my brothers and I would definitely do the same.  It also doesn't hurt that I had Superman and Supermom for parents. I also had some other spectacular people in my life who loved me just the same.  One of my mentors, my middle school band director, made a point of telling me he loved me as if I was his own daughter, and still does to this day.  There was one day that I was terrified that I had disappointed him to the point where I might be exiled from the band room forever.  He told me "they call it unconditional for a reason". I will never forget that as long as I live.  That someone who is not technically my family could love me enough to say his love would never end, it was a life changing moment.

This is exactly how God loves us.  No matter what we do, no matter what we say, God loves us unconditionally.  He craves for us to have Him in our lives, He wants to walk with us daily, but He knows sometimes we don't want to talk to Him...and He understands.  There were many times I stormed up to my room and hid there, not wanting to listen to my parents.  They patiently waited for me to calm down (and sure, grounded me a couple of times) but God does the same thing.  He knows there are times we need to storm off to our rooms, and He waits for us to open our ears to what He has to say.  The patience of parents astounds me, and this is no different.

God's love is so unconditional, and it is there for us to grab a hold of and run with! I can't wait to finish this book, it's simply amazing. Hope ON!