I am a firm believer in the UNCONDITIONAL love that Jesus pours out on us...and that is the very love that I pray the Holy Spirit will pour out of my life into my children and all those around me. You see, I have alot of people asking me about adoption/fostering, being a sibling to adopted/fostered children, and when the time to walk away is...and here's the deal. There isn't one. Not according to God's Word. Don't think for one second that at times, I have wondered if it would be ok to just stop loving...stop trying...because it is SO hard sometimes. But the Holy Spirit has really been teaching me alot lately and one of those things is that when we have Him in our lives, when we choose to follow Him, surrender to Him...He just fills our heart with His love and it begins to flow out and we cant stop it. And it doesn't matter if we are dealing with an angry teen, an adult who continues to make bad choice after bad choice, a child who spews hate and seeks to hurt all around them, a homeless person who chooses the drug over a life...it DOESN"T matter. This is why...because they are the ones who need His love.
I think about His love and how easy it is to love those that speak goodness into our life. How easy it is to extend kindness and grace to those that bless us. We feel they "deserve" the love,that they have earned it by their actions...but friends, that is the exact opposite of what God's love is. God's love is not based on our actions, on how "good" we are. I was saved by God's grace. I did nothing to deserve it. I could never be good enough to earn that salvation that I desperately needed...and since that day when I surrendered my life to His will at six years old, I have sinned against Him every day....and yet...His love is still there. It still pours into me and flows over me. So to extend anything other than that same love would be hypocritical of me. The love I receive every day in all its fullness is mind blowing! I have learned that nearly all of the people who resist His love the most, are the very one's who are hurting the most. They are broken, they are hurt, confused and searching...and when they see us put " conditions" on our love they then think that is how Christ must feel about them as well. That breaks my heart. So even though many times my heart aches, my eyes burn from crying, and my soul feels like it is crushed...I will keep on loving. I will take time to step back and look into the heart through His eyes and see the hurt and then I will keep on loving...just like He does.
This about surrendering to His love. Opening your heart and receiving His love and letting it flow out of you. We have  all heard the saying," Love is the gift that keeps on giving"...but it is true. But only if it is His love being reflected through us. We just can't do it on our own. We let petty, silly things cause us to get angry. We allow our hurt feelings to dominate our relationships and we put those ever crazy "conditions" on our love...so I will challenge you as you read this. I challenge you to drop it. To let it go. To forgive. To truly love...no matter what is done to you or against you. Just love. And don't look for the "time" to walk away...look for ways to extend more love. I promise that if you do the love will just continue to grow in your heart. It will become very evident that it is not "you" that is loving...because we are so incapable of loving unconditionally on our own...but it will be HIM through you. And isn't that what we all long for as believers? To be consumed by Him in every area of our life? I hope that answers the questions that have been asked lately of when I will be " done" with all this...I won't be. I will keep loving, keep trusting, keep believing, and keep learning more of this great Love that lives inside of me...I hope you will too!