Unconditional
Imagine with me the conversation between God and a new mother when she holds her newborn for the first time.
God: Here’s a tiny, helpless baby. You’ll need to do absolutely everything for her and protect her with your very life.
Mother: Of course. I’ve prayed for her, and I’m happy to do it.
God: Good. You’ll fall completely and madly in love with her, even though in fourteen years, she’ll be disgusted by you. In fact, your very existence will humiliate her.
Mother: Wait, what? Why will she be disgusted with me when all I want to do is love her?
God: (shrugs) But don’t worry, you will continue to adore her, feed and care for her, and give her the very best of all you have. In time, she’ll come around.
Mother: How long will that phase last?
God: Four or five years.
Mother: (wailing) My child is going to despise me for four or five years? Why?
God: Ten years tops. They usually grow to appreciate their mothers by their mid-twenties at the latest. That’s not the point though. In this journey, you will get to know me better. The intensity of your love for this tiny person, who will break your heart at times, will give you a glimpse of how much I love you. You will emerge wiser, and you and I will become closer.
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I’m not sure how a new mom would respond in her overwhelm, but I doubt any mother worth her salt would hand her baby back and say, “I’ve changed my mind. It’s too hard.” In fact, lots of parents, knowing the cost and realizing the outcome is never guaranteed, choose to enter parenthood multiple times over.
John 3:16 was the first verse I ever memorized, back when I was too young to even read the words for myself. I’ve known all my life that God “so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The world, not me specifically.
I would take a bullet for my children. I would do anything I could to give them life and to ensure they know Christ. Yet, I’ve struggled—and still do at times—to accept that my heavenly Father who knit me together fearfully and wonderfully could really love me more than I, a broken, earthly mother, loves her own children. However, somewhere in the process of raising my kids with unconditional love, I have begun to understand my significance in the eyes of the Lord.
He loves me so much that He doesn’t wait for me to get my act together. Nor does He wait for any of us to repent or to clean up before lavishing us with affection. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So, what do we do with this kind of love? We receive it. We stop trying to earn it or prove ourselves worthy of it. And then, we pass it on. Just as a mother continues to love her child through rebellion, heartbreak, and slammed doors, God loves us through our messes. And He calls us to do the same for others.
Maybe there’s someone in your life right now who’s hard to love. Maybe you are the one who feels unlovable. Either way, the invitation is the same: Receive grace. Share grace. Obey the call to love, even when it’s costly. Because love rooted in grace, not performance, is what brings us closer to the heart of God.