There are certain people whom everyone assumes loves them unconditionally -- moms, dads, brothers or sisters... These people often says things like, "I'll always love you, no matter what." Recently it hit me: what if there was no "no matter what'?

I've known a few people who will say things like "I love you, but..." or "I love her, except when she..." It's rather mind-boggling to me that someone could ever utter a sentence such as this. Furthermore, I can't understand how "love" and "but" can both function in one sentence.

Let's take a closer look at this for a minute, by way of a hypothetical situation.

A teenage girl, raised in a Christian household, gets pregnant by her boyfriend while still in high school. As they drive her to a homeless shelter, her parents inform her, "We love you, but we won't tolerate this." As in, "We love you... IF you don't get pregnant before you get married."

The first thing that comes to my mind in a situation like this (and I've seen plenty of them in real life -- there always seems to be an IF or a BUT!) is how is this love?

I've come to a rather unsettling new conclusion: it's not. You can't just take love back. That's not how it works. That's what love is supposed to be. It's supposed to be there all the time, every time someone needs it. It doesn't come and go because someone got pregnant, or lost their job, or failed a test, or...

Seriously, folks. "I love you, BUT you should have studied harder for that test."

"I love you, BUT I told you not to date that boy in the first place..."

If it comes with any kind of condition -- a "but," or an "if" -- no one's going to hear the I love you.

Love is for always. Don't let there be a "but" in your love.