Conditional Love
John 3:18-19; 35-36, Matthew 6:14-15, Proverbs 6:16-20 and 1 John 4:16-18
Yes, God’s love is unconditional towards us! The way all of humankind has learned to love is different. Therefore, our understanding of love is broken. Because of this, God establishes conditions to recognize if it is His love in us or our own celebration of love. The more the love of God is in us, the more our love becomes unconditional. However, many people who follow Jesus claim to know him but the type of love they celebrate is toxic and divisive. This should not be the case!
John 3:18–19 (NLT): 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. Matthew 6:14–15 (NLT): 14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Proverbs 6:16–20 (NLT): 16 There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. 20 My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
AND FINALLY… 1 John 4:16–18 (NLT): 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So, we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
God IS Love! We think we know how to love, but we don’t. Our love is conditional. We choose who we like and who we don’t. God gives us the conditions to see our fallenness when it comes towards being loving. We must take what we know about love and allow God to per-fect it because our love was broken in the fall of all mankind. Is your love still fallen or toxic or is it being perfected?