How to Love Unconditionally

In this post, I said about being the conduits of unconditional love.

But how do we love unconditionally? 

It is easy for me to love my nice elderly neighbor or my best friend. But the rubber meets the road when the object of our love is someone who hurt us or others. How do we love this person?

The easiest way is to not equate the so-called "offender" which his actions.

But in most cases, we cannot love a person unconditionally, if we trust in our strength alone. If you have any doubts, try loving Hitler, or someone who hurt you.

Unconditional love is not something that we can manufacture. It is the fruit of the Spirit that manifests as we remain in Christ Jesus. 

True, we see the fruit on the branches but notice that the branch does not strive to bear fruit. It is His Life within us that helps us bear His fruit, for we have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us; and the life which we now live in the flesh we live by faith of the Son of God, who loves us and gave Himself for us.

There will be a fight initially in our mind, especially if we are usually prone to be driven by the dictates of the ego, which is not in alignment with the Spirit, Who is housed in our spirit. But the more we cease from our striving and emotionally rest in Him, acknowledging our inability to bear His fruit, the more we will see His rivers of living water saturating us and flow through us. 

The fruit of the Spirit then will no longer be Christian-speak for us, but a living reality, which will not be dependent on others or the circumstances, no matter how grave or bright the situation is.