Unconditional love is very difficult in our flesh bodies, to give to our families, friends, our office workers, and anyone else, for that matter. We are disciplined by our parents, yet we love them. We have ups and downs with our husbands and wives..... some lead to divorce. What about friends and co-workers? We either deal with the problem head on or get our 'feelings' hurt.
Our Heavenly Father, Bless His Holy Name, loves us unconditionally. That is 'agape' love. Why? Because He looks upon us as righteous through the blood of Jesus. His blood and sacrifice covers us.....covers our sins. I'm not saying this is a license to sin, because it isn't.
There are 3 kinds of love: 1) eros - the love between a husband and wife....sexual. 2) philos - brotherly love. That is why Philadelphia, PA is the city of brotherly love. This is where the love of friends come from. 3) agape - this is God's love for us, Bless His Holy Name. This is love unconditional. We don't have to earn it, He just gives freely. This is the type of love we as faithful believers strive to reach.
Now the closest example of unconditional, IMHO, is a dog's love for his master. Now don't go and think that I'm comparing God's love to a dog, Bless His Holy Name. It's just an example I'm utilizing. It's something I can see. For instance:
1) you can be gone 5 minutes or 5 hours and they greet you as if you had been gone for days. Mine do such a happy dance! They don't care if you've had a bad day...they just want you to know that you were missed and so very excited to have you home.
An example that has happened to me recently is that I was out of town with my sister, visiting one of her kids. Well, I got lazy and didn't commune with God, Bless His Holy Name, like I had been. I have no idea what my reason was or if I even had a reason. A day before we left, I prayed for safety for my sister's child and her family as they were headed to their condo on the beach in S.C. Well, I said my prayer and the Lord said, "I have missed you." It kind of broke my heart, to be honest, but I was also excited to know that the Creator of the universe, only having a zillion things to do, missed me.....little ol' unimportant me.
2) they stick to you like glue, never wanting you out of their sight, hence the saying, "follows you around like a little puppy dog."
3) they know when you're upset and sick, and they give you love and comfort.....some can smell out cancer, drugs, and even people. Comfort and care forthe sick. Generally, we run in the opposite direction.
4) you can get upset with them (not abuse in anyway) and they will, within moments, still be by your side. I cannot stay upset with mine for more than a minute because mine love me unconditionally.
I can honestly say that I've been upset with Almighty God, Bless His Holy Name, but I fuss it out talking RESPECTFULLY with Jesus. I do fuss, and He lets me get the steam off of my engine. He's my best friend, so of course I want to talk to my best Friend and vent. Sometimes I'll get an answer, other times I don't. He just listens. Isn't that what we all want....someone to listen?
As children of the King, we are expected to love unconditionally, but we hide behind excuses. How about 'love thy enemies as thyself.' Few of us can say that. Now I'm not talking about someone breaking into your home and you say, "I love you, so please leave my house," (I'm a 2nd Amendment person). Jesus loved Judas and died for his sins along with everyone else. I honestly don't know how He did it, but He did the will of the Father. There will never be another betrayal equivalent to 'Judas'.
One of the things I'm learning to do is accept people for who they truly are. Why do we want to change people? (I'm not talking about witnessing to them.) People get married all the time, walking down the aisle thinking they are going to change the other. If you can't accept them as they are, don't expect to change because you said so. That marriage won't last long. ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE PEOPLE! What I do know is that I want to love unconditionally. I'm striving to be like Jesus. I am far from being there, but I'm putting one foot in front of the other.
Our Heavenly Father, Bless His Holy Name, loves us unconditionally. That is 'agape' love. Why? Because He looks upon us as righteous through the blood of Jesus. His blood and sacrifice covers us.....covers our sins. I'm not saying this is a license to sin, because it isn't.
There are 3 kinds of love: 1) eros - the love between a husband and wife....sexual. 2) philos - brotherly love. That is why Philadelphia, PA is the city of brotherly love. This is where the love of friends come from. 3) agape - this is God's love for us, Bless His Holy Name. This is love unconditional. We don't have to earn it, He just gives freely. This is the type of love we as faithful believers strive to reach.
Now the closest example of unconditional, IMHO, is a dog's love for his master. Now don't go and think that I'm comparing God's love to a dog, Bless His Holy Name. It's just an example I'm utilizing. It's something I can see. For instance:
1) you can be gone 5 minutes or 5 hours and they greet you as if you had been gone for days. Mine do such a happy dance! They don't care if you've had a bad day...they just want you to know that you were missed and so very excited to have you home.
An example that has happened to me recently is that I was out of town with my sister, visiting one of her kids. Well, I got lazy and didn't commune with God, Bless His Holy Name, like I had been. I have no idea what my reason was or if I even had a reason. A day before we left, I prayed for safety for my sister's child and her family as they were headed to their condo on the beach in S.C. Well, I said my prayer and the Lord said, "I have missed you." It kind of broke my heart, to be honest, but I was also excited to know that the Creator of the universe, only having a zillion things to do, missed me.....little ol' unimportant me.
2) they stick to you like glue, never wanting you out of their sight, hence the saying, "follows you around like a little puppy dog."
3) they know when you're upset and sick, and they give you love and comfort.....some can smell out cancer, drugs, and even people. Comfort and care forthe sick. Generally, we run in the opposite direction.
4) you can get upset with them (not abuse in anyway) and they will, within moments, still be by your side. I cannot stay upset with mine for more than a minute because mine love me unconditionally.
I can honestly say that I've been upset with Almighty God, Bless His Holy Name, but I fuss it out talking RESPECTFULLY with Jesus. I do fuss, and He lets me get the steam off of my engine. He's my best friend, so of course I want to talk to my best Friend and vent. Sometimes I'll get an answer, other times I don't. He just listens. Isn't that what we all want....someone to listen?
As children of the King, we are expected to love unconditionally, but we hide behind excuses. How about 'love thy enemies as thyself.' Few of us can say that. Now I'm not talking about someone breaking into your home and you say, "I love you, so please leave my house," (I'm a 2nd Amendment person). Jesus loved Judas and died for his sins along with everyone else. I honestly don't know how He did it, but He did the will of the Father. There will never be another betrayal equivalent to 'Judas'.
One of the things I'm learning to do is accept people for who they truly are. Why do we want to change people? (I'm not talking about witnessing to them.) People get married all the time, walking down the aisle thinking they are going to change the other. If you can't accept them as they are, don't expect to change because you said so. That marriage won't last long. ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE PEOPLE! What I do know is that I want to love unconditionally. I'm striving to be like Jesus. I am far from being there, but I'm putting one foot in front of the other.
