Unconditional

We love to set conditions on things....I'll exercise only if it's warm out, and only if I'm feeling good. I'll start doing nice things for my wife when she starts addressing my needs. I'll give money to the United Way when one of their agencies benefits my family. I'll put more of my heart and soul into my job when I get a raise or that next promotion. I could go on. We love setting conditions because that ensures fairness. You rub my back, I'll rub yours. We need to see clearly in advance, that there will be a return on our investment of time, effort, or money. And if not, tough. We'll keep looking until we find someone or something which provides us with what we want, when we want it, without requiring so much from us. That, unfortunately, is our human nature. Somewhere along the line, we forgot about the example God provides us daily, loving us irrespective of our actions and our love for Him. We don't deserve his love, but He gives it willingly and unconditionally. As difficult as it may be to do, we need to intentionally strive to remove conditions from our relationships and our lives in general. As we faithfully follow God's lead, we'll see some amazing changes take place in our lives. Living a life without imposing conditions frees us to become the best possible version of ourselves; it removes excuses and ultimately serves to eliminate regrets. Love that "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7) does not come from within. It can only come from God. BELIEVE.