Unconditional Love
"There is always something left to love...When do you think is the time
to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easier
for everybody? Well then, you ain't through learning - because that
ain't the time at all. It's when he or she is at his/her lowest and can't believe
in hisself' cause the world done whipped him so." Raisin In The Sun
Webster’s dictionary defines "unconditional" as "not conditional or limited". I think we all know what love means. When I think of unconditional love, I think of parents. No matter what you do, you parents will always love you. They may not always agree with what you do or what you say, but at the end of the day, they will love you. You may have stolen money from mom and dad, broken a treasured family vase or dish, or had an angry word. No matter what, your parents will forgive you and meet you with unconditional love. I think of Jesus Christ, no matter how bad we mess up, he will always love us and forgive us. His grace and mercy is everlasting.
to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easier
for everybody? Well then, you ain't through learning - because that
ain't the time at all. It's when he or she is at his/her lowest and can't believe
in hisself' cause the world done whipped him so." Raisin In The Sun
Webster’s dictionary defines "unconditional" as "not conditional or limited". I think we all know what love means. When I think of unconditional love, I think of parents. No matter what you do, you parents will always love you. They may not always agree with what you do or what you say, but at the end of the day, they will love you. You may have stolen money from mom and dad, broken a treasured family vase or dish, or had an angry word. No matter what, your parents will forgive you and meet you with unconditional love. I think of Jesus Christ, no matter how bad we mess up, he will always love us and forgive us. His grace and mercy is everlasting.
So the question I pose is: Why is it so hard for us to forgive others and show people unconditional love? I am asking myself this question as well. It is often hard for us to forgive when we have been wronged. We feel justified in being angry when we refuse to forgive. Sometimes, if we are not careful, that anger can turn to hatred. The question is though, what does that anger and resentment prove? At the end of the day, what is it going to do but harden up our hearts and keep us from experiencing joy?
Often times when we feel someone has wronged us, we often start to suffer from selective memory or amnesia when it comes to how we have wronged others. We easily forget that at some point in our lives we have done something to offend someone and maybe sometimes we have not even asked for forgiveness ourselves. But then when somebody has done something wrong to us, we are ready to summon up the firing squad and cast judgment on that person. When one person messes up, their good deeds become overshadowed by that one lapse in judgment or offense. Sure, what that person has done may be a bigger infraction in our eyes than what we have ever done to someone else. But ultimately, does that matter? In God’s eyes, isn’t it all the same?
Often times when we feel someone has wronged us, we often start to suffer from selective memory or amnesia when it comes to how we have wronged others. We easily forget that at some point in our lives we have done something to offend someone and maybe sometimes we have not even asked for forgiveness ourselves. But then when somebody has done something wrong to us, we are ready to summon up the firing squad and cast judgment on that person. When one person messes up, their good deeds become overshadowed by that one lapse in judgment or offense. Sure, what that person has done may be a bigger infraction in our eyes than what we have ever done to someone else. But ultimately, does that matter? In God’s eyes, isn’t it all the same?
Why is it so hard for families and friends to forgive one another? We may forgive sometimes, but then we have conditions as to how we forgive. Does God have conditions when he forgives us?
Am I saying we should not get angry, of course not. There are times when people do things that make us mad, and we feel like we will never be able to get past that anger or hatred towards another person. That is understandable. But think about all that energy and time you have wasted hating or being angry with someone. We take years to forgive others by avoiding them or acting childish by giving them the cold shoulder or cursing them out which just makes the situation worse. When the person you are mad at comes around, you automatically freeze up and stop enjoying yourself because now you are so fixated on that person and what they did to you that you cannot have a good time. You have allowed your anger and pride to steal your joy. You get mad at others for not joining your cause and being mad with you. We often take the high school approach towards our unwillingness to forgive someone. “I am mad at him/her, so you need to be mad too.” Then we get mad at others for not being mad too. We want people to take sides. We act like this towards the people we love, yet when we have offended someone, we expect his or her forgiveness and understanding to be instantaneous, and then have the audacity to get offended ourselves when they don’t forgive us.
Life is too short to stay mad at people. We (myself included) like to judge others when they have done something often forgetting what we have done to others. Life is too short to stay mad for things that have already happened. Pray on your anger, and move on. It is the only way you will enjoy life. Forgive, not for person who offended you, but for you so that you can be free. Just think, someone in your life has shown you unconditional love, why not return the favor? Forgive- it is the only way you will enjoy life and have peace.
Love and blessings.
Life is too short to stay mad at people. We (myself included) like to judge others when they have done something often forgetting what we have done to others. Life is too short to stay mad for things that have already happened. Pray on your anger, and move on. It is the only way you will enjoy life. Forgive, not for person who offended you, but for you so that you can be free. Just think, someone in your life has shown you unconditional love, why not return the favor? Forgive- it is the only way you will enjoy life and have peace.
Love and blessings.
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