When I was in middle school, my best friend invited me to go to church with her one Wednesday night. A ton of my friends went to this church and I thought it could be fun, so I decided to go. I expected the service to go as the usual ones do. We would sing and we would talk about Jesus, and I would probably feel guilty after it was all over. But that night, we talked about something other than how we are suppose to have “quiet time” and attend church regularly. We talked about love, but more importantly, we talked about loving unconditionally.
Now, I’ve never really thought about the true meaning of this topic. At the time, I was a 13-year-old girl whose biggest concern was what time my friends and I were going to go to the mall that day. I didn’t have time to think about the L word. I was too young for that. But now that I am in college and in a committed relationship, this topic weighs heavy on my heart. “Unconditional love” can be described as “affection without any limitations.” People tend to use this term a little too easily though. They throw it around like it’s even humanly possible to do. That’s right. It is humanly impossible to love someone or something unconditionally, or at least if you are a follower of Jesus. Some people may be offended by this statement, but if you claim that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then you should have no problem understanding this concept.
Couples make the common mistake of putting in their wedding vows, “I promise to love you unconditionally, forever.” But if these couples are going by definition and their Christian faith (which I hope they are), they are not being truthful. The one and only one who can love unconditionally, with absolutely no limitations, is Jesus. And who are we to take that role from our Father? This is where humans get it twisted. 1st Timothy 1:5 says, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” The key word here is “aim.” This is a goal. Instead of saying, “I promise to love you unconditionally,” maybe we should say, “I strive to love you unconditionally.” Jesus doesn’t ask us to be Him. He asks us to be like Him, to act in such a way that is pleasing to Him.
As harsh as it sounds, we do not love anyone unconditionally. Not because we do not want to, but simply because we cannot. We can come close to it, but there will always be an exception to your love for someone. For example, “I love my husband, but I wish he had more patience.” That “but” statement is what separates us from the Almighty. Jesus has no “but” statements. As Christians, we just need to be more careful of how we phrase our love for one another. We never mean to take the glory from our Father. But it’s little things like this that we can fix to give it all back to Him.
