Fruit of the Spirit - Week 2, Day 2

Love is Unconditional (No Matter What)

Years ago, there was a preacher named Dr. E. V. Hill. He was the pastor of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. He'd been there for years. The thing I liked the most about E. V. Hill was that he was a man of great integrity. He was not afraid to call it as he saw it.

Often in his ministry in inner-city Los Angeles, he would point out the injustice and things that were wrong, and as a result, many times, his life would be threatened.

One time, after something he'd said on a Sunday morning, there was a threat that his car was going to be bombed by a local gang who sold drugs in their neighborhood. E. V. took that threat very seriously. One day, he came home and noticed that his car was missing. He thought one of two things. Someone has either stolen my car, or someone is rigging it up to bomb it.

For the next thirty minutes, E.V. Hill sat on his porch and prayed. When he looked up, his wife drove up in his car. He said, "What are you doing!" She said, "I got to thinking, this community needs you more than it needs me. If they're going to rig this car and bomb it, I want to be the one that is inside and not you."

E.V. said. "I always knew my wife loved me, but now I understood what love was all about." His wife made a choice. She chose to put her husband before herself. She chose to put her life on the line so he wouldn't have to.

True love is unconditional. There are a lot of relationships that are in trouble today because they are based on conditional love rather than unconditional love. Conditional love says, "I love you if you do this for me. I love you if you serve me. I love you if you do what I ask you to do."

Conditional love says, "I love you because you are successful; I love you because you're beautiful." True love says, "I love you no matter what. I love you no matter what may come our way. I will stay with you no matter what. I will be in your corner. There is nothing you can do, nothing you can say, that will ever stop me from loving you."

Isn't that what we all long for? Isn't that what we all search for? Our bottom-line desire is for us to be loved and accepted the way we are, warts and all.

When I look at these three observations about real love, you know what I see? This is the way God loves you and me.

Our God has shown His love in action by giving His one and only son to die upon a cross for our sins and for our shame. No one forced Jesus to go to the cross. He chose to put His life on the line, so you wouldn't have to.

And His love for us is unconditional. It is not based on anything we can do. He says, "I love you no matter what. I will stay with you, and I will be with you. I will always be in your corner. There is nothing you can do, nothing you can say, that will ever stop me from loving you."

There is nothing you can do today that would cause God to love you a little bit more, and there is nothing you can do today that would cause God to love you a little bit less. Isn't that great news? His love for you is not based on your performance. He loves you no matter what.

When a person has had an encounter with this type of love, everything in their life is different.

As followers of Christ, we are to be examples of the love that has been given so freely to us. Jesus said in John 13:35,

"By this, all men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another."

Are you a loving person?

Time Out:

1. We have gone over a lot about love this past week. Let's recap what we have said about love.

• Love is an action.
• Love is selfless and not selfish.
• Love is a choice. We must choose to do the loving thing, even when we don't feel like doing the loving thing.
• Love is painful. There is a cost to love. You have to forgive again and again, and man, that is hard.
• Love is unconditional.

2. As you look at those five attributes of love, ask yourself: which of these am I doing well? Which of these do I need to work on?

3. Think of the one you need the most work on: What three things could you start doing to make this weak one a strength over time?

Today, I want you to ask God to make you a more loving person. I want you to ask God to help you tear down the walls you have put up against other people and to ask Him to give you the strength to forgive others in the same way that you have been forgiven by Him. Thank God for His amazing love, and let Him know that it is the desire of your heart to love others in the same way that He has loved you.