Unconditional Love

Unconditional Love. Wow! Big words, even by themselves they are big words, but put them together and they can be overwhelming. Do any of us know unconditional love? Jesus does, but do any of us? From the time we are born, our parents try to teach us. But do any of us love unconditionally? What would it take for you to not love your mother, father, sister, brother, son or daughter? Right now I can think of nothing, but 40 years from now will I still be able to love each one of them without conditions? I hope so, but we all do don’t we?

Really, what would it take just to shut someone out? What if they got married and chose another religion over the one they grew up with? What if they decided that their sexual preference was not what they grew up with? What if a family situation changed and you didn’t agree with a sibling. We all have conditions don’t we?... "I will always be your mother/father and love you as long as you are Baptist." "I will always be your mother/father and love you as long as you fall in love with a member of the opposite sex." "I will always be your daughter/son and love you as long as you seek the care I want you to have." "I will always be your sister/brother and love you as long as we can agree on how to divide the assets ."

I once knew of a mother who was going to block a child out of her life over an issue like this. I thought then that she had never lost anyone that she loved and never thought of the conditions of having that person back. If God came to me tomorrow and said I could have my brother back for one more day on one condition, whatever that may be, I would completely take it, whatever it was. But we don’t get those chances to accept those conditions. We just wake up one morning and find ourselves in the middle of a situation that could end a relationship. And because we can’t love unconditionally, we lose out. We all lose.

I pray for open hearts and open minds. I pray that we put our loved ones and what is right before the selfish desires of our hearts. I pray that we can strive to love unconditionally.