Unconditional Mercy, Love, and Grace

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~ Romans 8:38-39 
I have been thinking about what it means to love someone without anything in return. How hard it is to love unconditionally. It's easy for me to want others to accept me for my faults, yet it is not easy for me to accept other's. I want to say I love my neighbor, but sometimes I just don't, before making the choice I will, instead of going by my feelings. What I'm getting at today is not just the idea of loving my neighbor unconditionally, but an thought that has been plaguing my mind for a while. That is-- to what extent is unconditional love shown through me, the world, and God? Surely people want to give up and walk away from those who they do not "love" them, sort of say, but when it comes to the grace of God, we are to love our neighbor no matter the extent of hatred is filled in their hearts towards us.

In Matthew 5:44-45, Jesus said, "But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike." Let me say, I don't believe we have to have an open dinner invitation for everyone, but I do believe we are commanded to simply love every single person in our lives no matter what harm they have brought into our lives. Do we have to hang with, or be near, them? No. Are we to pray for them? Yes. Just like Jesus said to do so. Remember Jesus' enemies? People who tried to throw him off a cliff or said nasty things towards him? Do you think he was going invite them to dinner? Let's be honest, no. Kind of would have been inappropriate, and confusing. Anyway, back to the topic of unconditional love. What is it? What is this unconditional love? Do we long for it, or is it something we can live without? Is it something is earned? I'll stop there, and answer no for the latter. But yes, we do yearn for it. Our souls yearn to find that fulfillment of love in different people, things, place, sins, and God. We have to be careful where we look.

To shorten the idea that there is in every human being a "love hole" to be filled, I am going to focus on the idea of acceptance. We all want to be accepted for who we really are. In today's society, that is where our pop culture is heading these past few decades, and it's thriving now. We want to be able to express ourselves through our talents, abilities, intellect, clothes we wear, way we talk, protests we stand in, tattoos we get on our arms, and more. There are millions of ways to express yourself, I bet. It's our world now. Be who you are, and you will be happy. At the end of the day, that's what matters. That is, everyone is happy. Thing is, what if I can barely face myself when I get out of bed for the words I said to a friend the other day, or for the hangover I have from last night's partying? Where am I going to find acceptance? The capacity to forgive myself. To be able to move on from my past mistakes, and hurts towards me? How can I ever be loved when I mess up? Accept me the way I am? The person who casts a curtain on her dark lifestyle, and hoping no one finds out? Letting no one in the darkest secrets of my heart? Even being using bitter words to keep you out of the house of misery I have built?

How about this?

What if there is unconditional love? Unmerited mercy. Grace that passes my understanding for why I can be loved? Someone who understands I make mistakes, and need help. Someone who is willing to void all my past and future regrets with a legitament payment that makes me wholesome again? What if there was a one and only perfect life lived in the style of my life (being a mere mortal) that when it entered death, it could not be contained by it, because death spit it back out because there was no sin or mistake to be found for it to be kept buried? That is, what if Jesus Christ, God himself, loved me in a merciful way that human experience cannot explain? What if unconditional love from Jesus is undeserved? Then that means I am loved by a person whose knowledge and opinion about me matters the most. Afterall, he is perfect, unluck the middle school girls I once tried to impress with the new clothes I got from the mall.

See, unconditional love means loving someone because there is nothing inbetween you and the person. To say God loves us uncondtionally is evidented in John 3:16. While we were still sinners "...God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." What is this need for acceptance? I think it is simply a cry for love. To be accepted by a parent. To be accepted by our friends. To be accepted by our Father in Heaven. Unconditional love is what God has shown, and it is a part of who he is. Accept this-- He loves you. Now see how you can allow his love to be expressed through your life unto others.