selfish love... unconditional

Love without change is not a relationship its just a ritual... Love without sacrifice is just religion...
What is love?
It is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, it is not rude or self-seeking, it is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always preserves...
Without a relationship with God you cannot know truly know what love is and without love you cant really know God. If you love God by the worlds standards your love for him will be selfish and prideful and it wont be LOVE at all...
To show true love you need to be willing to sacrifice and change. And these changes should come out of love not because you feel required or out of duty.
When your heart is right and you do this out of love, the sacrifice is less painful and God blesses it.

Living in this world its so easy to forget what love truly means, even as a christian and even though I do know what love really looks like because this world is so wicked and self centered, love quickly gets replaced with selfish ambition, pride, lust or jealously.

Loving another person with Christ like love can be very difficult sometimes. Its so much more than just emotions running rampant, showing someone unconditional love is showing them the patience,joy, peace,  kindness, goodness, gentleness, and faithfulness that God shows us everyday. it is definitely a challenge and something we all fall short of doing often. But that's why having a personal relationship with God is so amazing because slowly as we grow closer to God we become more and more like him and that's such an amazing thing because Gods love is overwhelming and so faithful and sovereign and beyond anything we could ever reach but a standard we should strive for daily.

I write this on Christmas Eve one of my favorite nights of the year, usually filled with family and friends, laughter and yummy food. The Eve of one of the most important days on earth, the day God gave earth the greatest expression of love, the birth of Jesus given to us to bring salvation and redemption of the world :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!