Unconditional Love 

Guest Post by Abby Rose from Worth More Than Gold

One summer, when I was on a choir tour, I experienced the pain of being bullied.

It wasn't fun.

As the "new girl" I hated to complain about anything. So I didn't confront the leaders. After several more incidents of unkind interactions with this girl, I talked to a friend who witnessed everything. My friend told me that this young lady who was bulling me, had been through some really hard stuff.

So what was I going to do? I had some hard choices to make. No, it wasn't okay that she bullied me. But God still called me to love her.

So I made the hard choice. The best choice. I chose to love her.

To pray for her. To try and encourage her. To let her have the first shower. To open the door for her. To serve her. To forgive her. 

Eventually, after this girl had bullied and been unkind to many others, the leaders talked to her and she apologized. From that point on she was never mean to me again. She was actually very kind! When she apologized, I still remember the word she said.

"I'm sorry I've been so mean to you... I was going through some hard stuff this week and I took it out on you."

Wow. What a beautiful opportunity to show her God's love. None of that would have been possible without God pouring His love into me first though! I wouldn't have been able to serve her, if Jesus had not first set the example for me by washing His disciples feet. 

I wouldn't have been able to forgive her, if Jesus had not forgiven those who beat and killed him. Because God's love for us is so radical, so life-changing, so pure, and so selfless, we can TRULY love just as He has! 

"We love because He first loved us..." (1 John 4:19)

Love is a choice. 

Love is a choice we must make each day.

Just like I had to make the choice to love the girl who bullied me, we must CHOOSE to talk to that person sitting by themselves at lunch or youth service and show them love, even if we will be laughed at.

We must CHOOSE to smile at the lady at the grocery store that was unkind to us and show her love.

We must CHOOSE to forgive the friend who betrayed us. 

THIS is love. This is selfless, forgiving, unconditional love that Jesus covers us in daily! We must CHOOSE to love as Christ has loved us. 

1 Corinthians 13 illustrates such a beautiful representation of what kind of love we should have. We can write a book about God, read our Bible every day, write blog posts or volunteer at a food bank, but if we have no love in our hearts, it is only "noise" to God. 

Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy or boast and it is not proud. Love does not dishonor others and it is not self seeking. Love is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not rejoice in evil but in the truth.Love always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. Love NEVER fails. 

When you choose to sit by that person who is always sitting by themselves, it doesn't matter if you are talked about our not, you are choosing to show that love isn't proud. When you choose to smile at the grumpy lady at the grocery store, you are choosing to show that love is kind. When you choose to love the friend who betrayed you, you are choosing to show that love is not self seeking.

"Love covers a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8
 
Just as God loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), we must choose to love those who sin and hurt us. No one is perfect except God, so we all sin and fall short. But God's grace is sufficient for us all.

The world will constantly try to drag people down. The enemy wants to whisper lies like, "you aren't loved" into our ears, but we must choose to stand out and LOVE others.

You never know what someone might be going through. But you carry the love that can change their world!

And what if they don't love you back? Keep on loving! We should never love with the purpose of trying to get anything in return. You may not be loved by everyone, but you will be loved by THE ONE. And because you are loved by the Great I Am, that is a beautiful reason to love others!  

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do he. And above all these things put on love which is the bond of perfectness." Colossians 3:13-14 

"Let all things be done with love." 1 Corinthians 16:14

about the author

Abby Rose is a Louisiana raised & Jesus saved 15 year old girl, striving to live her life serving God & others through loving selflessly, praying constantly & encouraging daily. As the founder of Truly Beautiful ministries, she strives to encourage girls to become { Truly Beautiful } in Christ. Her days are filled with reading God's word, blogging, writing, singing, playing violin, encouraging others through Youtube videos and blog posts, picking wildflowers and riding bikes with her little brothers. You can check her blog out here!