The Beauty Of Unconditional Love

The story is told of a surgeon who had to sever a nerve that controlled the muscles of a young woman’s mouth in order to remove a tumor. 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, it will.”

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. Later, the doctor commented to the woman’s husband about how refreshing and beautiful it was to see unconditional love in action!

Unconditional love is exactly what the prophet Hosea demonstrated 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. 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 (Hosea 3:1-5).

Unconditional love — that’s how God loves us as His children, and that’s how He expects us to love others (Romans 5:5-8; Matthew 5:43-48).

Indeed, what a challenge!

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets