On my last blog I talked about where we receive our concept of God, and listed several things that could shape our picture of Him. This time I’d like to describe one facet of God. I’m basing this blog on the Bible, which I believe to be God’s Word.
The overwhelming thing about God is that He is love (see 1 John 4:8). And this one attribute encompasses everything else that we can know about Him.
Has anyone ever loved you unconditionally? Someone who did not leave the relationship, but stick by you, even if if things were tough, or they didn’t agree with everything you did? I hope you’ve had that kind of experience on a human level. You certainly have it with God, even though you may not have seen or felt it.
God’s unconditional love holds onto you no matter where you are, no matter what you do, even if He doesn’t approve of your actions – or thoughts. He doesn’t let go of you. That’s something many have not understood. They tend to look at God’s judgment and feel that He won’t love them if they do “this” or “that”. But that’s not true. God’s love doesn’t stop just because of something you do. He loves ALL His created beings. All the time.
God’s love desires the very best for you. He created you with a mind to develop, and good desires and interests that He wants you to grow. He desires that you have a loving family, great friends, and that you be happy in your work.
But unconditional love isn’t all fuzzy-wuzzies.
It also means that the person who loves you, loves you enough to tell you when you’re about to do something that wouldn’t be good for you. If you were going to walk into a crucial business meeting with gravy down the front of your shirt, wouldn’t you appreciate a friend who cares enough to take you aside and tell you? Even if you knew it would embarrass you to know that you had been walking around like that? Sure, you would. Better to come from a friend than to know you had humiliated yourself among strangers. God does this, too. He gives us guidance and guidelines through His Word to protect us from ourselves.
Unconditional love will also try to stop you from hurting yourself, sometimes through toughness and doing what doesn’t feel good to the recipient.
Most people have heard of the “interventions” that are done by families to alcoholic family members. Betty Ford’s family loved her ENOUGH to confront her problem head on, and thus gained her recovery and probably her life. (See http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=39). While she was terribly angry at first, she has become very grateful for that pain.
God also sometimes has to let us go through some painful circumstances, but ONLY for our ultimate good. We often don’t see the “why’s” of a situation, but God sometimes rescues us through a painful circumstance, just as Betty Ford was rescued through one.
Stay tuned!
Your Turn: I’d love to hear how God’s love has been real to you in your life’s journey. Please share!
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Hi Pastor Sherry,
Thanks for this lovely post. It is so sweet of you to bring the rememberance of God’s unconditional love to us. I was once told by a Christian friend that ~ God loves us so much that He will know our loving heart towards Him even if we do not pray consistently.
This is especially true for those who don’t pray and communicate with God but still love God. They have to be made aware that God knows their loving heart.
Thanks again, Pastor Sherry !
Cheers
Pearly
Hi Pearly,
Thanks for stopping by! Yes, God is so much bigger than we are, and knows all the things that we can’t know about other people. He does know each person’s heart, even more than they know themselves.
Pastor Sherry,
What a beautiful post! So many of us have a concept of God as demanding, unforgiving, strict, domineering and placing all sorts of difficult expectations on us. Those of us who have come to know God personally begin to realize that the love given to us is truly unconditional. When we have difficulties and we say to our self, “Why me, why this, why now?” we forget all the previous times when we perhaps did something wrong and were not punished through Grace.
Unconditional love does not mean mushy, sweetsy, accepting anything and everything, love. Unconditional love includes everything – support, strength, encouragement and sometimes a few temporarily unpleasant tests, to test our resolve and to teach us to appreciate more.
Thanks for sharing God’s love and wisdom with all of us.
Warmly,
Erica
Hi Erica,
You’re so right — there are so many times when we deserved worse, but received better. And those times we seem to forget, at least I do. But the rough times we tend to focus on and want to blame God for. I love the passage in Rom 8:28 that says ALL things work together for good to those who love God. Even the hard times are all for our good.
Hi Pastor Sherry,
I’ve been through many challenges over the past few years and I’ve always looked at it as God wanting me to be very strong for some reason. I’m not sure what that reason is yet, but I’m sure He will reveal it when it is time.
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
Holding on to God through a trial is not for wimps! It already takes spiritual strength. Whether or not God is trying to make you strong or He has another purpose for your experiences, I don’t know. I do know that He will tell us — if not now, then someday. I look forward to that, as I have some questions of my own!
Pastor Sherry,
It is difficult to understand God’s unconditional love unless you’ve experienced it first-hand in your own life. My mom was the source of unconditional love in my life, and she also had an undying walk with God. Her example has lived through me and provided solace and comfort for my whole life.
You’re right, Darlene — it’s really difficult to receive God’s love if one has never experienced it from a human. But not impossible. I know of several stories where someone was able to come from a severely abusive home and learn to connect with God on a heart level — and find healing. I’m so glad you had your mother to be that person for you. She fulfilled her role as a parent very well!
Thanks pastor sherry for sharing this unconditional love by god. We face many challenges in our life but sometimes we only need God when in time of needs, sometimes we forget to thank him in everything that we have right now.
Candice Michelle recently posted..SMS
Hi Candice,
You are so very right! We hold onto Him in times of crisis because we know we can’t do anything about the situation, but when the situation eases, then we go back to feeling like we can do things ourselves. God must shake His head at us! How much better it would be (and I’m speaking to myself here : ) to feel that same need of God when things are going well, as when things are not well. I believe that part of why He lets us go through tough times is to bring us to dependance on Him.