No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:39 (NLT)
What Jesus accomplished for us is about true love.
You see, God’s love is unconditional. He loves you regardless of how you treat Him, and you and I have the ability to love that way because we have His nature in Christ.
If you love with conditional love,
there are consequences. If you’re
a parent, you could give a child who
keeps their room neat more love than
one you have to remind every day. But if you show more love to the one who has a clean room—this is important—you will mess up that child’s head because you are teaching him that his performance earned him this love. He will think that he has to be perfect.
The child with a messy room suffers too because eventually he will give up on trying to earn your love. He will come to believe that he can ever measure up, so he’ll stop trying.
I’m not saying that parents can never work with a child on behaviour, but they need to show love while they do so. Kids need to know that nothing they do will ever change their parents’ love for them. While coaching that child, they can communicate their love and respect for him and let him know they’re glad he’s in the family.
Understanding God’s unconditional love for us helps us to love others with that same kind of love. And when we do, we begin to build incredible relationships.