Being Loved Unconditionally

It has been a terribly long day. My back aches. My stomach aches. I'm tired, fat, and terribly out of shape. But once again, I find myself unable to ignore the prompting to write.

This time Mike Yaconelli's is again talking about passion. The passionate love of God for us...for me. Even before we are "saved" we here the message that Jesus, that God, loves us unconditionally. It's this kind of love that draws us into this relationship with God that we call Christianity. God loves us UNCONDITIONALLY.

Then what happens, we go to church, and what do we learn: "Yes, God loves you, but His love has conditions:
You must love back.
You must live a life worthy of His love.
You must respond to His love with responsible, normal behavior.
The Message was mixed. God loves me unconditionally... Yet as His child I had to live up to what others claimed were God's standards." (p. 98)

Wow...this is absolutely the truth. Think about all the things you have been taught in church. I can't even begin to list all the contradictions I have been taught. I have even heard it said like this: Baptists believe in that 'once saved always saved' stuff cause it gives the the right to go and and live like hell and still get into heaven. And if someone goes out and does stuff like that, they can't truly be a christian. They only 'went thru the motions' or 'it was only an emotional response, they didn't really mean it.'

How dare we judge what has happened in the heart of another. We have no clue. Only God truly knows.

It's only when we truly understand and except God UNCONDITIONAL love for us can we truly live for him. God doesn' want our 'sacrifices of obligation' thinking He will love me more if I go to church every sunday, or read my bible everyday, or pray an hr each morning, or keep a journal, etc., etc. That's not a response to unconditional love...that's obligation...love with strings attached.

That's not the God that I want to know or to serve. I need a God that loves me no matter what I do, no matter how many times I screw up, no matter how many messes I get myself into. That is true unconditional love. That is the Jesus I read about. That is the Jesus that says: "I love you just exactly the way you are, but I love you too much to leave you that way." And gently guides me into a more loving relationship with Him.

Now that is the kind of God I want.