The Love Dare, Day 10: Love Is Unconditional
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Merry Christmas, fellow Ditherers and Divas!! What better day to take on The Love Dare than the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! He is both the author and the ultimate example of the selfless love we are longing to possess and live out. In a world where we can feel unappreciated and unloved by the people we walk beside and sacrifice for, it is the love of Christ for us that will give us the peace we need to continue to love, even when we can’t get any reciprocity.
Because love — real love — doesn’t seek reciprocity. In fact, love is giving to another person unencumbered by a need for reciprocity. GOD is our reciprocity. We don’t have to walk around empty because others in our lives don’t pour back into us what we give to them; We are full because HE fills us up! That’s why we can still love and still give to each other, despite hurt feelings and betrayals because HE gives us overflow! When our friends and family forsake us, it’s so that we can stand still and know where our help is really coming from! I am thanking God for today’s lesson, Love is Unconditional!
The Love Dare, Day 10: Love Is Unconditional
Today’s Scripture: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Today’s Lesson: What is it you love about your spouse, your friends, your family? Is it the way your significant other looks or smells? Is it the way your friends listen to you? Is it the things your family does for you? What if all of the things that you love about the people in your life stop happening? What if your significant other loses his good looks or his wit and charm to a disease? What if your friends are just too busy to listen to you? What if your family just up and decides to stop doing things for you? Can you still love them anyway?
That is the challenge of Christian love: loving anyway, loving irrespective of , loving despite of. Christian love is loving “because He first loved me,” and understanding that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” showing us the ultimate love. And then walking out that understanding in our daily lives by loving others, sacrificing for them, providing for them, giving to them, despite how they treat us. It is the acknowledgement that we never have and never will be able to deserve God’s love– He just gives it to us freely! Therefore, how can we withhold that same pure love from others based on what they deserve? We can’t without being total hypocrites.
On this Christmas Day, surrounded by family who know exactly how to try our patience more than most, let’s not give people what we think they “deserve.” Let’s free ourselves from the bondage of judging others and just love unconditionally, knowing that our reward will be that we are an ingredient in the Almighty God’s happiness. (And what could be more awesome than the thought that WE could make the infinite God happy based on the small acts of obedience and sacrifice that we do?!) John 15:13 says “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Let’s lay it all down today and sacrifice for our friends, showing them what is really the greatest love of all.
Today’s Dare: Do something unexpected and out of the ordinary for someone today to show your unconditional love. Reach out to someone, forgive someone, lay down your life for someone as the Holy Spirit leads you and see how He will change your life, your heart, and the hearts of those around you.
Scriptures I’m Meditating On:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31
“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:35
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Now Behold the Lamb!
Very timely word of encouragement for the day and that is all I can say but perfect timing!
Thank you! God Bless you this Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! so glad you were blessed!