Unconditional Love

This Thursday, Christians around the world will celebrate the love of God the Father and Jesus Christ as they initiated their plan to offer salvation and reconciliation to all peoples of the earth for all time. God sacrificed His only Son...

John 3:16-17 (NKJV) 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

...and Jesus sacrificed His rights as God to become a man, die in our place, and pay for our sins...

Philippians 2:5-11 (NKJV) 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

...all for love.

We have an innate desire to find this unconditional, "true" love during our lifetime in relationships with others. Though I will argue that a personal relationship with Jesus is the most important and fulfilling one you can have, I want to write a bit about another very important lifelong personal relationship.

When a man and woman are married, they are joined together as one flesh. This is accomplished legally and is symbolized by sharing a last name, physically when they conjugate their marriage, and emotionally.

Mark 10:5-9 (NKJV) 5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’ ; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Trying to separate two people once they have been woven together in marriage would be like trying to separate your arm from your torso. Can it be done? Yes. Will it hurt? Very much so! Will there be a scar left on your body? Only if you are alive.

I have counseled with many Soldiers who are struggling to make their marriage work. They are trying very hard to do the right thing, yet there seems to be no progress toward reconciliation. I counsel these men and women to focus on the one thing they can change: themselves. You cannot change your spouse, and separating from them will only make things worse for everyone (with the exception of leaving an abusive partner). Jesus loved us so much that He suffered the most painful death humans have ever been able to inflict on another person. Can you love your spouse enough to keep trying no matter what response you receive?

I challenge you to look into the Love Dare (see links below). This is about you, and how changing your perspective will impact your relationship for the better. If you are at the end of your rope, you have nothing to lose. If you want to get closer to your spouse, get closer to God.