Tuesday, April 28, 2009

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We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn;t approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other experssions of evil, becasue they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God's love. Evil does not belong to God.
God's unconditional love means that God continues to love us even when we say or think evil things. God continues to wait for us as a loving parent waits for the return of a lost child. It is important for us to hold on to the truth that God never gives up loving us even when God is saddened by what we do. That truth will help us to return to God's ever-present love.

-Henri Houwen "The Only Necessary Thing" page 68

Unconditional love is so difficult a concept for us to understand. I feel awkward demonstrating and encouraging unconditional love to those in my congregation because it allows someone to hurt us. Nouwen says that unconditional love does not give unconditional approval, which is true, but it does it still puts anyone that exhibits it in a precarious position. I don;t want to love everyone unconditionally. I want to love those that do right to me. I want to love my neighbor as long as my neighbor doesn;t do anything that hurts me or my loved ones in some way. This is the antithesis of unconditional love though, and that is what makes it so difficult for me and for everyone.

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