Practice Loving Unconditionally

Scripture Reading - Luke 12:12-14 "Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again , and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."

In today's scripture reading, Jesus was at the house of a Pharisee eating bread on the sabbath day when He spoke a parable unto them teaching the importance of loving unconditionally. In the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan there is a chapter called "The Profile of the Lukewarm". It is a great chapter which really causes one to examine their own lives and has compelled me to go about prayerfully fixing the areas of my life that need work. One particular statement made me really consider the motives for love. Here is the statement: "Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with. There is little love left over for those who cannot love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athletes than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkard or uncomfortable. Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached." As I considered the statement, I realized that I need to work on this truth. I need to love as Christ loves, with no strings attached. This is the very principle Jesus is discussing in Luke 12:12-14. In addition to those who will readily return our love, we need to seek out and love those who will never be able to return it. It will help bring all the love we show to being unconditional.

I personally witnessed a great example of this through my mentor in the Lord, Cecil Lyall. Cecil was a great man of God. He had a better understanding of Christ like love and knew how to give it more so than any person I have ever came in contact with. We were ministering at a juvenile detention center. A young girl about the age of 12 would sit in a chair, curled up in almost a fetal position. Totally unresponsive. Some of the others would taunt her trying to get a response. We even saw one of the counselors bounce a basketball really hard and fast in front of her trying to get her to look up. After we continued on with our activity time after the scripture lesson, Cecil, who was in his late 70's and very stricken with Parkinson's Disease took a brush and very slowly and lovingly brushed this young girls matted hair out. After he had finished, he gave her some peppermint candy. They little girl looked up and thanked him. Cecil proceeded to hug her. I hope I have conveyed this episode well to you because it is the greatest exhibition of love that I have ever seen. I can still see Cecil's shaking hand gently brushing that young girl's hair. 2 weeks later when we returned to minister, the lead counselor came to me. This lady was a wonderful person. She genuinely cared for these children. She asked me what did we do with Anna (the young girl whose hair Cecil had brushed out)? Anna had been totally co-operative, had participated in every activity since we were last there. The little girl had totally been changed. All because my friend Cecil had allowed God to love this child through him. Amen. Amen. and Amen.

Seek out someone to show Christ's love who will probably not be able to return it. Love them as intensely as you can. It will teach you the value of unconditional love. Be Blessed and Live in the NOW.