Unconditional Love

These children are holding a portrait that they drew of themselves and at the top it says "I am loved by God."

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.” Psalm 89:1-2
Today at St. Padre Pio I taught a lesson about God’s unconditional love. I started out by asking them to think about the word love and what it means to them. Some of the students put up their hand and gave some sentences using the word love. Some examples were; “I love my father because he pays school fees.” Or “I love my parents because they buy me books.” All of the sentences that were shared used the word because followed by a condition. I found this very interesting and convicting because too often do I love only conditionally. I love a person only when they act the way that I want them to or according to the way a person loves and treats me. But God’s word clearly says we are to love even our enemies. I transitioned our discussion to asking about God’s love for us. I asked if there was anything we could do that could change the way the Lord loves us. Does God love me more when I am good? Many students responded with yes. How often do I think the same way? Our human nature sometimes wants to limit God’s love, but it is not possible.
If then I truly believe that God’s love is unconditional, that there is nothing I can do that will change the way He loves me, how then should this truth impact the way that I love others? The Lord was speaking to my heart today, just as much as He was to the children’s. Often times I lack this kind of love. I miss opportunities to show God’s unconditional love and His never ending outpouring of grace. I pray the students were also challenged to think about the love of God in a new way. And that they would truly see examples of His unconditional love in their lives.