Unconditional love requires much work

“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.” (Clare, age 6)

For all of us, unconditional love requires much work. It’s a lifetime labor. What is more important, we cannot do it on our own. We need divine grace. Don’t be afraid to ask for it.

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” (Elaine, age 5) “Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” (Chris, age 7) “Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.’ (Mary Ann, age 4)

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” (Lauren, age 4) “When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” (Karen, age 7) “You really shouldn’t say, ‘I love you,’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” (Jessica, age 8)

The winner was a 4-year-old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing. I just helped him cry.”

The love we find in 1 Corinthians 13 is the highest and most unselfish kind of love. It is not natural. It goes against our very nature. That type of love extends to the unlovable, the undeserving, the ugly. It gives all and asks for nothing in return. Jesus lived this kind of love.

According to 1 John 4:8-16, God is Love, and we will slowly develop that type of love as we become more Christlike. Jesus commands his disciples to remain in his love (John 15:9), and adds, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” (John 15:10)