Unconditional Love

Unconditional Love.

What do you think of when you hear those two words? Who do you think of?

For some, it’s a fleeting thought—a hope of someday feeling that, a question of how that could ever be. For some, it’s all they’ve ever known and experienced. For some, it’s somewhere in between. You’ve had it, but never truly understood it.

Whatever your experience, I can say one thing for sure: our Heavenly Father is the true picture of unconditional love, and only through Him will we be able to experience true unconditional love. Even the people who love us unconditionally are only able to do so through the love of the Father that they receive.

I have struggled my whole life with believing in unconditional love. Even when I had people who expressed it so well, my heart would never accept the reality of it.

If you go back and read my testimony, He Is Faithful to Our Yes, you’ll see that I grew up with very conditional love. Coming out of the situation I was in and into a family that continually shows nothing but unconditional love was amazing, but at times, confusing. I knew it was unconditional love and appreciated it so much, but my heart never really understood it.

My mind would constantly try to think of any way I could make sure they loved me and make sure they knew I loved them. I continually thought that if I upset anyone, they were going to love me less. Even though their actions never showed that, it’s what my heart had been taught to believe.

I didn’t even realize it had carried over into my relationship with the Lord. I knew His love was unconditional, but I would almost subconsciously feel that if I wasn’t doing exactly what He wanted me to be doing, somehow He would distance Himself or maybe be less proud of me.

One night, a couple of months ago, I was just sitting alone in worship and asking the Lord to speak to me when a song came on that spoke directly to that broken piece of my heart in a way nothing had before. The line said, “you wanted love no separation, you couldn’t help but close the distance.”

In that moment, it was like someone turned on a light in a dark room, and I was finally, truly, and deeply aware of the unconditional love I had received from the Lord and the family He has placed in my life.

I felt overwhelmed by love in a way I had never experienced before.

It was the image and reality that the Lord rescued me, both from my sin and from the situation I was in, simply because He loves me and wants nothing separating me from Him or from the fullness of His love for me.

Not because I did anything to deserve it. Not just because He has something for me to do.

But because He loves me.

I had thought so many times, “Lord, what is it You want me to do? You brought me here for a purpose. You have blessed me with this family for a reason, and I want to be worthy of this blessing.”

And the reality is, the reason, the what, and the why, was love.

And In His love, He has given me such a purpose, a beautiful future, and He has such an amazing plan for me. Because of His love, I desire only to sit at the feet of Jesus and pour my worship out. I desire only to serve Him and follow where He leads.

But none of that is out of a place of earning love. It’s because of love. And those are two very different things.

I could never earn His love, His purpose, or His blessings.

And that is the beauty of it.

He gives it so freely just so you and I can experience the fullness of it.

He has placed me in a family that loves me the same way, and there is nothing I can do to earn it or make it go away. And that comes from their understanding of the Father’s love.

So that is unconditional love. That is what I think of when I hear those two words.

Love that says, I will go any distance. I will endure any hardship. I will do anything to close the distance between you and the fullness of my love. That is who I think of. Jesus.