I think that every emotionally healthy person wants to love and to be loved. We want people to love us as we are. We want to feel accepted no matter what we may say or do. When we make a mistake, we want to be forgiven and we don't want to experience rejection. We want to be loved unconditionally.

A problem comes though when we do not reciprocate unconditional love. For example, there will never be real love expressed between two people if both individuals are seeking to have their needs met. How can two people make a relationship work if both define love as, "if you love me then you will do what I want"?

There is only one person who can truly love unconditionally. His name is Jesus. See, God is perfect and demands perfection from us. But, we all have fallen short of living a perfect life and that is called sin. The penalty for sin is death. But, this penalty is too great for us to pay! The Bible says that God demonstrated the meaning of love to us in this that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus laid down His life for us as the ultimate act of unconditional love.

He accepts us for who we are, for what we have done, and even for what we have neglected to do. But, now He is asking us to accept Him unconditionally as well. He wants us to accept His love by giving to Him our heart, mind, soul, and strength. He wants all of us. When we give ourselves over completely to Jesus then we are "fully known, fully accepted, fully loved, fully valued, and fully celebrated."

Jesus will never leave you, quit on you, belittle you, or even condemn you. Did you know that the Bible says that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save the world? He came to show you what love is.

Once we experience His love, we must step forward quickly to embrace it. The Bible provides an excellent description of unconditional love and gives us a pattern to follow. What is real love? Here is an example,

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ... Love rejoices with the truth. Love believes and endures all things. Love never fails."

The longing of your heart to be loved unconditionally can be fulfilled only through Jesus Christ. You must admit your sin, believe in Jesus, and follow His ways. If you do, you will experience unconditional love. Once you have experienced love unconditionally, you are then able to know how to love as well.