Most of us are aware of 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

These verses have been quoted at almost every wedding that my husband and I have attended. Most people have said “I love you” to another person or a pet at least once in their lifetime. Young or old, people say it quite often. My sons have been saying “I love you” to me since they were at least 2 ½ years old. I’ve said “I love you” to Ralph, my husband, 2 months after He & I started dating. However, lately I’ve been asking myself do I really understand what “I love you” means? A few days ago, my 10 year old asked me why I love him. Of course, it was easy for me to give him tons of reasons because he is my son, he is such a sweet boy, he is easily lovable. You see what I said : “He is easily lovable”.

The questions that I now ask myself : Are humans only capable of loving others based on conditions? Are we only capable of conditional love? What happens if the people we love are no longer capable of meeting those conditions ? If you only fell in love with your spouse because of his looks, his money and the ways in which he/she makes you happy, what if he/she is no longer able to meet those conditions? Now what? 

How is God’s love different from our love for people?

God doesn’t love us because we are lovable. The very opposite is true. Romans 5:8 tells us: “ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”.  God’s very essence is love. His love for us is not dependent on what we do as his very nature is Love. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn the love of God. 

In contrast to God’s love, I’ve noticed & learned that humans ( apart from Jesus ) are only capable of conditional love. We love someone because of at least one reason….. Christians love Jesus because He died for us on the cross. We love our spouses for many reasons including their actions, values, physical appearances. We love our family members because of their relation to us, and what they do for us. Love as described in 1: Corinthians 13: 4-7 contradicts our self-centered nature.

The question still remains : Are we capable of loving unconditionally?

The bible tells us the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord & Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, he helps us to live out the Christian life. Jesus commands us to love our enemies, . Loving our enemies goes against our very flesh. By the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, we are certainly capable of loving people as Christ loves us. One of the many fruits of the Spirit is Love. Like all the other fruits of the Spirit, for them to manifest the way that God intended for them to manifest, we have to seek God’s truth on the matter and we have to remain in Christ so he can remain in us and those fruits can be evident in our lives as Jesus said in John 15: 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself: it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Thank you all for taking time out to read this blog today. This post is a special one because it wasn’t written by me but by my beautiful wife Rachelle who has always been like a lighthouse for lost ships. Are we capable of loving unconditionally? Is a great question to ask as we keep Chasing God’s Way/ve.

Written By: Rachelle St Albord