Unconditional Love
by Janet Riley

In my 20's, when I was seeking God, I learned this definition of unconditional love. "Love is an act of my will, not an emotion. By an act of my will, I decide to make it a function of my life to be concerned about the spiritual, emotional, physical, mental, and all other aspects of your life. By deciding to love, I have placed a radio button in my soul with your name on it. "

Unconditional love is like drawing a line from me to you, with an arrow on the end pointing at you. There is no loop coming back to me.

Conditional love is like a closed loop, that goes from me to you and back to myself. Conditional love sets up a set of rules or guidelines that you have to meet to win my acceptance. Conditional love has to be earned, you have to satisfy my needs and earn my approval before you receive it. If you do not satisfy my needs, then I break the connection.

One of the key things I have to remember is that love is not an emotion. It is very easy to be upset with someone, angry at their behavior and how they handled a situation. if we then withhold our love based on the emotions, we are only offering conditional love.

There is a basic need for acceptance in us. We need to know that God accepts us as we are, so that we then can accept ourselves. Once we accept ourselves, then we can ask God for the grace to give that same acceptance, and unconditional love, to others.

(C) Janet Riley, 2014. I know God as a personal God who communicates with us, if we listen. I am starting on a Christian writing career and open to where God leads me. Please review my other articles at FaithWriters. I would like to hear from you. Please email at [email protected].

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com







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