Unconditional part 3
If it's not unconditional, it's not love. That's what's on my heart these days. If you're picking flower petals saying, "He loves me, He loves me not," and just hoping and praying that you end up on "He loves me," then, well, you're not enjoying love. Or life. Which, really, are the same thing. To live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other because they are the same thing. They aren't just connected. They are literally the same thing. God is love. God is life. And I'm not out here talking about all the rules and regulations, all the dos and don'ts that we generally seem to associate with God. I'm talking about something bigger. Deeper. I'm talking about truly living. Not trying to fit into a box. Not trying to be someone we're not in order to get something we think we haven't got. I'm talking about the connection between God and man. Which manifests between man and man. I'm talking about how it is not good for man to be alone. How we need each other. And if we put conditions on this love--either as we receive it from God, or as we release it to each other--than we're really not going to be able to experience or enjoy the gift we've been given. If we think it's all about what someone does then we've really missed the point. I started this Rant series with the passage of Scripture about how nothing--NOTHING--can separate us from the love of God. But we separate ourselves from each other at the slightest provocation. We let anything and everything come between us. We build mountains out of molehills and we sit on top of those mountains making sure nobody else can climb them. We build walls. We draw lines in the sand. And, listen, at some point you need healthy boundaries. Letting people walk all over you isn't love. I saw a quote the other day that said, "We are commanded to love everyone. We are not commanded to be in relationship with everyone #healthyboundaries." Like I always say, turning the other cheek is about not retaliating, not about letting people keep slapping you. But if you WANT to be in relationship with someone... listen. You have to be a friend if you want to have a friend. If you're always portraying yourself as the victim... for a while that might get you sympathy, but nobody wants to be around someone like that. You have to take responsibility for your own actions. And the best way to do that is to do everything you do in love. Because of love. With love. "What's my motivation?" I did it because it was in my heart to do it. When we really understand the nature of (unconditional) love, we will stop judging people by appearance and we will only judge righteous judgment. We will love people no matter what. Not because of what they've done... but because of who WE are. Not because they "deserve it" or don't deserve it... but because we have something to give. Something that they need. And if they won't receive it from us? That's ok. Just shrug your shoulders and move on down the road. But you can't put conditions on love. You can't make people jump through hoops in order to "earn" love. Love is a gift. And a gift can't be earned. Period. It is freely given, and it must be received. That's relationship. Connection. Love!