Tag Archives: unconditional love

Does Anyone Really Care?

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“And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another.”  Hebrews 10:24

building each other upDo you ever wonder if anyone really cares?  If  you have accepted Christ as your savior, not only do you have a new life and purpose, but you also have a new family.  In this family, the Bible teaches us that we should care for each other and encourage one another.  The Amplified bible says to give attentive continuous care to watching over one another.

With the online social movement many people have become somewhat reclusive from face-to-face contact.  It seems that the new lifestyle and societal trend is to connect with relationships virtually – without physical interactions.  Unfortunately, in too many cases it has become to easy of an escape from recognizing and responding to the needs of others.  It’s difficult to wash feet and serve needs from a virtual connection.

Restoring Families

Social sites certainly have a place in our society and can help us find new ways of loving, encouraging, and sharing. We should carefully evaluate how we are building each other up in the Faith.  God has called us to Love unconditionally and to care for each other by serving in the nurturing of Faith.   Let us diligently and attentively consider each other’s trials, difficulties, and weaknesses; feel for each other, and excite each other to an increase of love to God and man; and as proof of it, to be fruitful in good works.

We are to be concerned about other Christians because they are our brothers and sisters. When you are in a family and care about others, you watch out for them and it sets you free from a lonely, secluded, and self centered life. Verse 24 says to give continuous (nonstop, constant) care to watching out for one another.

In your natural family, what was your response when you were asked by your dad or mom to look after your younger brother or sister? Whatever thoughts you have today that are hurtful and childish, just simply put them away (1 Corinthians 13:11) because these thoughts  and feelings are blocks that are keeping you from being obedient to the Word of God.

I remember a song we sang at youth camp around the camp fire many years ago. The words to that song had such an impact on my life. The song went something like this:  Do you really care -do you know how to share with people everywhere – do you really care?

What is holding you back? Identify your feelings and ask the Lord to fill you will His Love anew that you may be able to give it to others.

Unconditional Love: Finding the Real Thing

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“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”  1Corinthians 13:4-7

JGods love manifestAs you experience God’s love, you will know you have found the real thing.  He loves you with an everlasting, continual, and unconditional love.  His love is consistent and not based on your behavior, good or bad.  He loves bad boys as much as good boys.  His love is so strong that he doesn’t get offended at us when we make a mistake.

God continues to show you His loving kindness is still there for you to receive.  As you receive God’s love, your love for others is bound to change. It will be a noticeable change because you will have found the freedom that comes when you give and receive unconditional love. Relationships that are built on the foundation of unconditional love are real and lasting.

If you have a desire for the real thing, you must begin to realize what has been real and what has been superficial.  People who have not experienced the love of God only know how to love others on a shallow, superficial level.  Their love is superficial because it is self-serving.  Superficial love may look real at the first glance, but there are certain things that make it superficial.

Superficial love is conditional; and, it will always have a requirement attached to it.  The motive of the heart is the desire to receive something. The motive of the heart therefore is not pure.  To the degree that we have experienced the love of God is the degree that we can love others with genuine love.   Once you know God’s love by experiencing it, you don’t love others to get love; you have the real thing.  God’s love is the real thing; it is genuine. His love is totally satisfying and ends all our searching.

Let Your Love Be the Real Thing

I Shall Be Satisfied!

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“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.” Psalm 22:26

Resting Place of GodThere is a deep longing in the soul of each person that needs to be filled.  God-placed it there as part of His creation.

As a deer seeks for the water so our soul longs for love.  A thirsty soul is a longing soul that is looking for something that can not be satisfied by natural means.  The longing of every soul is to be loved unconditionally.

A longing soul can only be satisfied by the Lord because He is the only one who has perfect love to give. Everyone has a deep well on the inside that needs to be filled with supernatural water.

When you are very thirsty, water is the only satisfying drink that will quench the thirst.  Perfect love is like fresh water.  A longing soul will not be satisfied until it has an encounter with the perfect love of the Lord.

“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”  Psalm 107:9

Look to the Lord to satisfy the longings of your soul He loves you with an everlasting love.

Love, Not Commands

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The first is … ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’   from Mark 12

When Jesus was asked which of the commandments was most important, his answer, According to Mark 12, seemed to suggest that he is a person whose ministry is based on love, not commands.

Sure, the two statements in the scriptures above are written like commandments – they say “you shall”—but what follows those words is much more about teaching people how to have a good life than telling them what God requires of them.

So what does Jesus say God commands?  That’s simple enough:  Love God and love everybody.  How hard is that?  In reality, of course, both of those simple teachings are difficult to live up to and sometimes even intentionally ignored.

Loving God should be easy.  God is responsible for our very existence, so we should have an innate, overwhelming joy for the one set our lives into motion. Too often, however, I’ve noticed people exhibiting contempt for God because they really aren’t satisfied with their lives.  They’re not perfect, so God gets the blame. Perhaps their energy would be better directed toward improving themselves rather than attacking God.

And what about loving other people? That should be easy, too, since we’re all siblings. We’re all joined together by God, our common creator. But if that isn’t enough reason to love the people around you, think of it this way: You can’t fully love God unless you love what God has created. And you can’t love the things God has created without a loving respect for the creator.

Try to see the people around you from what you imagine is God’s perspective.

To do that, you’ll have to love everyone just as they are. You’ll have to accept them, even if they’re flawed. You’ll have to affirm the worth of each person. You’ll have to help them grow to be better and encourage them to call up the very best they have inside themselves.

To love people radically and unquestioningly, you’ll have to use all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. God does. And showing that kind of love to other people is the best way to show it to God.

If you call that a commandment, then that’s what I think Jesus commands.

Receiving God’s Love

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“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.” 1 John 4:16-17 

Those who have not experienced unconditional love may have a hard time believing that God loves them.  Conditional love is not God’s kind of love. Conditional love is based on performance and expectations.  You may have experienced conditional love when someone had an expectation of how they thought you should perform.   If you performed to meet their expectations, then you were accepted and affirmed.  If love is measured by how well you meet someone’s expectations, then you will never feel loved.  You can never measure up.  Conditional love is based on measuring.

Unconditional love flows and cannot be contained.  It is like a flowing river that never stops.  It would be silly to go to the Mississippi River and try to measure the amount of water in it at a given moment.

Many people today struggle with feeling unloved, and they do not know why. The reason is because they have not fully experienced unconditional love before, which is God’s kind of love.   When you receive God’s love, perfect love, you do not have to fear measuring up again.

1 John 4:18 says,

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear.”

Why do so many people struggle with feeling like God doesn’t love them?  The heart must be soft, much like the soil of a garden, in order to receive love.  It is easier for a child to believe that God loves them than an adult.  Their heart is soft because they have not had years of heartache.  A garden must be tilled to make the soil soft so a seed can be planted.  The heart that has only experienced conditional love will grow harder as the years go by.  Some people eventually give up and say, “Why do I even try?”

If your heart has grown hard, then like a garden, it will need to be tilled so you can receive love again.  As the heart is tilled, the rocks and roots are removed and the heart gets softer.  The tilling brings about healing.  A healed heart will not be afraid when love comes close. A healed heart begins to open up and receive God’s love, and then give love to others.