Unconditional Love

By Our Daily Bread

Read: Hosea 3:1-5

Love a woman who . . . is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel. —Hosea 3:1

Unconditional love—how refreshing to see it in action! A doctor recounted how moved he was by a young husband’s response to his wife after her facial surgery. To remove a tumor, the surgeon had to sever a nerve that controlled the muscles of her mouth.

After the operation, as he and the husband stood by the woman’s bedside, she asked, “Will my mouth always be like this?” The doctor said yes. The husband looked at his wife, smiled, and said that he found her mouth “kind of cute.” Then he bent over and kissed her, twisting his own lips to meet hers.

Unconditional love—that’s what the prophet Hosea showed toward his wife, who had left him and lived as a prostitute. He searched for her, paid a price to obtain her freedom, and brought her home. God said that’s how He loved His wayward people Israel, in spite of their unfaithfulness to Him (Hosea 3:1). He said He would continue to love them so that one day they would return to Him and receive all the blessings reserved for them.

Unconditional love—that’s how God loves His children. What a comfort! Unconditional love—that’s how He expects us to love others. What a challenge!  —HVL

On such love, my soul, still ponder,
Love so great, so rich, so free;
Say, while lost in holy wonder,
"Why, O Lord, such love to me?" —Kent

God loves His children not because of who they are but because of who He is.