The meaning of unconditional
1 says: things, things, things, things.”
When it comes to the meaning of love, I am a bit of a skeptic, because I have honestly never seen unconditional love in any person I have ever known. Even the best and godliest of parents which I have known, always expect something from their own children. Of course, as parents we know that we have been commanded to raise our children (my wife and I have 5) in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. As a parent, I know how tough it can be to do your best to correct your children, while at the same time making them feel loved. And if there is one thing that I have learned as a parent, it is that I do not know how to love unconditionally. In this context, I think
Corinthians “Beareth believeth hopeth endureth 13:7 all all all all that my children taught me more than I taught them.
But in God’s love, I am learning to understand the true meaning of unconditional. You see, God’s love never comes with a price tag. It is a free love; a divine love; a strong love; an everlasting love. The Apostle Paul says that true love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. Furthermore, he says that charity (love), suffers long, is kind, does not envy, doesn’t brag, is not proud, is not indecent, is not selfish, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.
It seems to me that religion always adds fine print (conditions) to the bottom of the pages of the Bible which talk about God’s love.
This religious fine print destroys the true meaning of God’s love because it has stripped
His love of its unconditionality. In doing so, we have humanized God’s love to the point that we think that God loves like we do. Religion has taken God’s love and used it as a tool to manipulate us into the “higher” realms of good behaviour.
And now, we have been forced to do good works that we might earn God’s love. But this is not love, this is a reward system which consists of – do good to receive good. God has not loved us so that we might get better. God has loved us because He is love. God does not love us so that we will stop sinning. He loves us because He can’t help Himself. Anything else is just religion.
I never understood the meaning of the word unconditional until I saw Jesus dying on the cross for me because – for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life.